The Legend of Zelda: The Dragon's Reign
by Zelda4ever1987
Summary: It has been over a month since the defeat of Ganondorf and Zant, and Hyrule is slowly heading back to peace...until a huge dragon claims Hyrule as her own. It is up to Link to defeat this acidic menace, but will he have the strength to do it on his own? Or will he require the assistance of someone who left the Light World? Story may have language and violence, but not extreme.
1. Hyrule's new enemy

Hello, everyone. I thank you for taking your time to read my story. I am such a huge Zelda fan, so why not start off my career here making my first fan fiction on my favorite game. This is like a sequel to Twilight Princess, and I have had this story on my mind for a long time now. This will be my one warning, that this story will have spoilers from the original game, so if you haven't played this game yet, go away. If not, then spoil yourselves rotten. I appreciate any and all reviews and criticism that can help improve my writing. I hope you enjoy this story.

* * *

The sun began to rise over the horizon of the kingdom of Hyrule, signaling the dawn of a new day. Once again, Hyrule expects a peaceful day like any other, people live their lives, Gorons wrestle, Zoras swims, and Princess Zelda governs her beloved people. It is nice, after the defeat of Ganondorf and Zant over a month ago, everything has gone back to the way things should be. Even so, the lives of three people were changed because of the recent events. Zelda understood that light cannot exist without darkness, Midna finally realized that the light dwellers have good within them, and the hero Link went on to save the whole kingdom from evil hands. In the end, the one link to the realm of the Twili people was shattered to prevent a disastrous event like that from ever happening again. Link was quite devastated to say the least, because of the fact that he may never see his sassy but good-hearted friend again, but he had to move on with his life. About a month later, peace had returned, but how long should that last?

"Princess Zelda," said a nursemaid to the sleeping princess, "It is time to awaken"

The princess slowly started to wake up from her sleep, even if she was still a bit tired a wished for 5 more minutes.

"Alright," she responded, "I shall be down in a minute."

"Do you require any assistance?"

"No assistance shall be necessary, thank you."

After preparing herself for the day, and finishing her morning meal, she got to work on he remaining reparations that still need to be done on the castle. Though it was blown to smithereens last month, it was well on its way to being fully restored thanks to the cooperation of her people.

"We still need a few repairs on the left hand of the castle, the castle still has debris left, easily fixed, and we need to hire more guards to protect us..." she paused for a second thinking of the cowardly guards of the past. "*sigh* Why do so many of our guards chicken out when we need them most. I should think about hiring guards from other species that won't cower in fear."

She stopped her work to gaze upon a painting she recently received by a grateful Hylian man: the hero rising to the front to face the King of Evil.

"I can't believe over a month has past since that time," Zelda thought. "Oh Link, I hope you are doing well since our darkest moment in Hyrule. Princess Midna, I hope that you too are doing well, and that you are ruling your kingdom with fairness."

Even though those two were busy with their lives now that evil has gone, she does think about them every so often. And why wouldn't she, they were her two closest friends during the whole mess. Finding herself bored with the remaining paperwork, she decided to head out to the balcony for fresh air. It was quite a bright day, with only a few clouds in the sky and the sun brilliantly shining. She could see her people down below, buying and selling, talking and laughing, and most of all, being happy.

"It does my heart good to see that my people are happy."

She looked at the sky to see the colorful birds flying overhead. Her eyes latched onto a peculiar bird, a black speck moving slowly. It seemed quite high in the sky too, so it had to be quite a big one.

"Wait a second," said Zelda, as she took a closer look at the bird. "It's small, but I can still see its wings. From what I know, birds don't have bat wings, and bats only come out during the night."

She had also noticed that the "bird" was starting to get bigger.

"Your Ladyship, you saw that black object in the sky, did you not," a random guard said from behind.

"I have, and that so called 'bird' is getting bigger as well," responded the princess.

"Zelda, that is no bird. Our team was able to identity it, a huge dragon is coming down upon us!"

"What!?"

And sure enough, she looked upon it and saw the dragon with her own eyes. And it was headed for town at a fast speed.

"Guards, we need to get the people to safety! Who knows what could happen to them when it lands," demanded Zelda in a worried, but stern voice.

She grabbed a paper and pen, just in case she needed to write to Link, and rushed to the throne room. Even if most dragons she ever knew were bad, that may not be the case this time. Still, she would be prepared if things went sour. She could only watch the people scream and panic as the dragon hurriedly approached the Earth in not even five minutes. The dragon landed at the town square with a loud thud, and Zelda was able to gaze upon it in its full glory. It was quite huge , to say the least, covering up most of town. It was a bright green dragon with light green chest plates and membranes. It was almost completely covered in red armor, and its tail end was a lantern. Its head and horns were covered by a red helmet that stopped to the middle of its snout, with a blue diamond cut gem in the middle between its eyes. It did nothing but gaze at everything surrounding it. Then the dragon spoke, a smile creeping on its face.

"My my, what a lovely little setup we have here," the dragon said with a feminine voice, indicating its gender. "You know, humans, I have looked upon this land from the sky, and from there I saw what you have to offer. Green plains, high mountains, clear waters, snowy peaks, deserts, and a castle in the middle of it all. I must say that you all have been blessed with a beautiful and rich land."

Zelda clung on to every word the dragon said, feeling slightly good for what she said. Although, her eyes stayed latched onto the devious look in her eyes.

"Word is that this place called Hyrule... is that what it is called? Yeah, it is, is known as the Golden Land. And also two baddies were recently removed here too. Perfect, now that there are no dark blotches in my way, I would like to inform you all that I will be living here henceforth. Oh, and my home WILL be in the castle!"

The Hylians gasped, some ran in fear, others talked amongst themselves in a worried tone.

"I was afraid she was going to be a bad dragon," said Zelda in a concerned voice.

"You can't live in the castle," a brave guard said to the dragon. "The princess would never allow it, you scaly fiend!"

It just stared down at him with an unamused look on her face. Then she opened her mouth, and Zelda could see green goo forming inside. Then she just spat on the brave little guard. When it cleared up, all that was left of him was a skeleton and the remnants of his clothes. People started panicking , and Zelda was horrified.

"Let this be a lesson to all of you," boomed the dragon, "If you do anything to upset me, or disobey me, I shall spit acid upon your miserable bodies! Actually that reminds me, I haven't introduced myself, have I? Remember this well, all of you. My name is Astrid the Acid dragon, and from here on out this land is my own!"

Knowing this, Zelda had started to write a letter to the one person that can help them all, simple, but urgent. Just as she finished, and put it on one of her delivery birds, a hawk, for the recipient, she saw Astrid heading her direction. All Zelda could was rush to her throne. Then Hyrule's new enemy entered the room, which she was barely able to fit into.

"So you are the ruler of this land, am I not mistaken," said Astrid as she approached the fair princess. "It is an honor to make your acquaintance, I must say."

"Why are you doing this," Zelda responded, demanding an answer.

"Why? First of all, a question like that is quite cliché, I have heard that oh so many times. Secondly, I need a new place to live. All the other lands I've been to didn't last very long under my rule, so I moved on to here. This land is quite fertile, and I can live here for some decades, or maybe a century if I'm lucky.

"That is quite a greedy little plan you have in mind. You're expecting many species to bow to your whim just like that? As the ruler of Hyrule, I shall not approve of your planned tyrannical rule. Someone will put an end to you, and if you don't want that to happen, then-"

Astrid slammed her tail next to the princess, putting a stop to her little 'your not doing this I don't approve' speech.

"You know, for a pretty little girl like yourself, you do have a big mouth haven't you. Don't bore me with such long speeches, please," Astrid told her straight.

"All I'm trying to say is that you are not welcome to barge in here and claim this land as your own just like that," Zelda retorted.

"And all I'm trying to say is that you don't have much of a choice," mocked Astrid, "I'm bigger and more powerful than you. Any attempt to destroy me will only be in vain. But I will tell you this, you have some spunk, I can see it in those blue eyes. Not very many rulers stand their ground much like you do. Because of this, I shall make you a deal."

Zelda did like the spunk comment, but she wasn't liking where this conversation was headed.

"I normally kill the ruler when I take over the kingdom, but just for you, I shall make you my servant. What do you say, Princess Zelda?"

"As much as like your consideration, I still oppose your taking over this kingdom," Zelda said, standing her ground.

"Now you listen here you little pest," Astrid snapped, "You should be thankful that I am sparing your damn life! When I'm sparing YOUR life, I'm sparing THEIR'S too! If you keep on disagreeing with me, then I'll kill YOU, and your whole kingdom! Do you understand me," she roared, some acidic goop landing in random places near Zelda.

Zelda was speechless. She realized that she was being put into the same position as she was all that time ago, being confronted by the Usurper King Zant. Once again her people's lives were on the line. She knew that Link can do something about this since she sent the letter, but If she disagreed now...it would have been for nothing.

"Well," said the impatient dragon.

Knowing that her options are slim, Zelda reluctantly replied to the huge menace in front of her.

"I...I understand, Astrid."

"Hahaha, now you see things my way," she said in a much more pleased tone. "Now, I hope you don't mind If I sleep in the gardens. I do like my fresh air after all. Oh, and since this is my first day as ruler in Hyrule, would you make me a big cake to celebrate? I don't mind what flavor, but it has to be as tall as you. Thanks, doll!"

And with that, Astrid exited the building and went into the garden. Zelda could hear some parts of the castle collapse as sh settled in.

"*sigh* There goes the progress in our castle's reparations," she sighed in defeat. "Well, this cake isn't going to make itself, I might as well do it if it will keep her in a good mood. This will only last until Link defeats her anyway, just be patient, Zelda."

With that she headed down to where the kitchen was, all the while she could hear her people, once happy and carefree, screaming with fright at the new menace.

* * *

AN: For those of you that have already read this chapter, I have made some changes. I've looked back at it and realized that there were several errors and added a few things. I thought I could re-upload this chapter so it doesn't look cruddy and full of errors compared to the rest of the story. If you've read this before, I hope this chapter looks a bit better than before.


	2. The return of the hero

Hello everyone. I hope that my first chapter wasn't too bad for all of you. Before I go on I have to say this: I may not be able to upload new chapters very often right now because I have to focus on graduating high school, so bear with me on this. It's just a little longer, and then I'll have all summer to work on this. Enough about my life though, you guys came here for the story. I hope that you enjoy.

* * *

While Astrid is busy with taking over Hyrule, we shift our focus to the South, the Ordona Province. Even after the whole affair with Hyrule being in danger, Ordon Village has not been affected much. The children on the other hand, have matured to some degree because of their little adventure. Talo, while he still gets into trouble every so often, has softened his attitude towards Colin. Colin is no longer the shy little boy he once was, as the events have made him into a courageous, slightly more confident boy. Malo is now the owner of two Malo Marts, an incredible feat for a boy his age. Beth has made a new female friend named Luda, so now not all of her friends are boys. Ilia played a small part in Link's quest to save Hyrule, and even now they still remain close. And lastly, Link had originally set out to save his friends, but he save all of Hyrule as well. What is our hero up to now though, as his quest is complete?

"Hey, Link! You there," said the owner of the ranch, Fado.

In response to the question, Link poked his head out.

"I may need your help with handling the goats, they ain't listenen' to me today!"

"Alright Fado," said the hero, "I head over there right now."

"OK, I'll go ahead of you," Fado said as he headed towards the ranch.

Yes, Link had gone back to his life at the village, working with the goats and hanging out with the kids. He has recovered from the shock of his ally, Midna, leaving and severing their connection. But even still, he does miss her, and stops to think back at their adventures every now and again. He does try not to let it get in the way of his life. After Link got his beloved horse Epona prepped for work, he set out for town.

"Hey Link, good morning," said Colin as he saw him.

"Good morning, Colin."

"You heading out for work today?"

"Yeah, Fado is having trouble with those goats again, so I gotta help him out."

"OK then, don't work to hard ok-"

"Hey Link, hey Colin," shouted the little rascal Talo.

Link just stood there to see Talo run towards them to talk to Colin. He was quite happy to see that those two are trying to start anew. Those two then ran off, probably off to do something. So Link headed off to the ranch to get those skittish goats under control. It wasn't too bad, just had trouble getting a few in, and he got knocked off only one time by an angry goat. He only got a few bruises from that but he was fine. After he got all of them in the barn, he went back to talk to Fado.

"Thank you, Link. Those goats sure can be a handful sometimes."

"It's no problem, Fado. Do you need anything else?"

"Nope, not now anyway."

"Alright then, I'll see you later then," Link said as he started to go.

"Um, Link," Fado said suddenly. "Are you alright? You sure your happy?"

Link paused for a second to grasp what he said, then said, "Yes I'm OK, I'm sure of it."

He then headed back into town to get some food for dinner: a nice greengill fish, and some fresh milk from Sera's shop. He said hi to all of the village people along the way. When he reached his home, he had met up with his closest friend Ilia, who was waiting by the ladder.

"Hello Link, said Ilia, "you weren't home so I waited here."

"Sorry, I was helping Fado with those goats. They were restless again."

"That's fine, we don't want any goats running off, like with Tina."

Tina was an older goat that lived in the ranch. She went restless one day and ran out of the village. One day several weeks later, a Goron came by to drop her off in the village again, since it had wandered off into Kakariko Village. She is still alive, but since then Fado has been quite careful with the goats.

"Yeah, that was quite a messy situation, but at least she's back."

"Well anyway, I just came by to see if you and Epona are doing well."

"Epona has been doing great , and I'm good too. Just a few bruises from today is all."

"Good, but you should remember to take it easy now and again, alright," Ilia said, slightly concerned for Link.

"I try," said Link, sighing.

He is taking his time back from his quest to rest. He had spent many sleepless night to save all the people in this land from evil, and now he can stay at home and relax. Because of his adventure, Ordan Village seemed quite smaller now compared to the rest of the land. As much as he loved his home, in all honesty, he was somewhat bored with his daily routine.

*caw-caw*

They both stopped to look up at the sky to see a hawk circling above them. That's not uncommon really, the Ordonians see hawks all the time, what else would those hawk whistles be for. But this particular hawk came down to Link without the use of a whistle.

"That's odd," Ilia said, "the hawks in this area don't normally come down to humans without the whistle."

"But there is something in its mouth," said Link. "Maybe that's why it came down."

As soon as he took the letter from the bird's mouth, it took flight again and started heading back north. Link took a look at the letter to see the Royal Family crest on it. A letter from the princess.

"This is a letter from the princess," said Link when he found out who it was from.

"Oh, then it must have been a delivery bird that came down."

"In all honesty Ilia, I'm glad the bird sent this rather than that postman," he said, thinking about all the times the annoying postman came right in the middle of his quest to deliver him letters.

"Is it urgent?"

Let me see."

"_To Link,_

_Hyrule requires your assistance once again. Not too long ago, a huge dragon came down from the sky onto this land. She seemed friendly, but she also had an evil glint in her eyes. She said that she is going to live and rule this land as her own. A guard tried standing up to her, but he was killed with her acid powers. She had threatened to kill my people if they did not obey her, or anger her. I shall try to stand my ground, but I fear she may not leave. Dragons are hard to deal with because of their greedy instincts, always wanting to conquer more. With her acid powers, she can easily kill any living being, and she will use up all of our resources until the rest of us have nothing. If she stays, then everyone is going to suffer. That is why we need your help, oh hero of Hyrule. Please, take up your sword once again and slay this evil being. We all need you._

_Sincerely, Princess Zelda of Hyrule."_

"Oh no," said Link as he finished reading the letter.

"What's wrong," Ilia said, concerned of what has made Link suddenly pale.

"Ilia, no one in Hyrule is safe right now, even us. A lethal dragon has settled here, and if we are not careful...she could destroy our land."

*gasp*

"Ilia, I need you to inform the people in the village about this, they need to know what's happening," Link said with urgency.

"I will! Link, what are you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna get the Master Sword and head over there. That thing could kill us all if she stays here."

"But that would be walking into a slaughter Link!"

"I'll be fine. I saved Hyrule once, I can do it again. Go!"

Ilia was worried, but she did as she was told and went to tell her people. Link saw himself being suddenly thrown back into danger once more, and that Hyrule's fate lies on his shoulders again. Although he did save everyone from the Twilight. Heck, he even beat a dragon once, so it shouldn't be too bad. But what if this dragon is even more powerful than Argorok the Twilight Dragon? Can he face it by himself without the guidance of his shadowy companion? So much for a peaceful night eating fish and drinking milk.

* * *

And so, Link has to go and save Hyrule's butt yet again. I hope I did a decent job at capturing the essence of what Link's normal routine at home is like. The whole story with the one goat that got away is a joke I made up, as a reference to when the goats may get away and you have to flip them over to stop them. As I stated before, I may not be able to load new chapters often because of school, but I'll try to update as soon as I can. I hope that you guys stick around to read more of my story, and please review so that I can improve for you all. Sorry for the long author's note at the end, but I tend to ramble on, me and my running mouth. Anyway, have a good day/night.


	3. Retrieving the Master Sword

Hello everyone. My next chapter is up and the story continues. I may be a bit busy for a while, but I do try to find the time to write this. Really the classes that are keeping me busy is Civics and English. As much as I like those classes, other do provide a lot of work. Were there any classes that kept you busy? I stayed home from school today so I thought I would write the next chapter to this adventure. Anyway, on to the story.

* * *

Finding that he is being thrown back into adventure, Link headed to his house to get ready. He put on the trademark green tunic, and grabbed his pockets with the plethora of items inside. He keeps a freaking ball and chain in there and it still feels as light as a feather, awesome.

"OK," said the brave hero. "Hyrule is facing a new menace, and it is up to me to save everyone. Let's do this!"

He was interrupted by the sound of his stomach growling.

"I shall save Hyrule...right after I eat. Even I have standards you know."

So the hungry hero headed back inside to eat his originally planned meal. When the beast demands food, you gotta feed him. Maybe that is why he turned into a wolf?

"Alright, let us NOW go."

"Wait Link!"

Link paused to see the townspeople near him. They all looked quite worried, as he was heading off to slay Death. Oh sorry, I mean the dragon. The mayor of the small village approached him.

"My boy, I think I speak for everyone hear when I say: please, please, be careful. We're counting on you to slay that monster."

"Don't worry everyone, I'll do my best to slay her. Just don't go outside to often, who knows when that dragon will come around."

"Alright then. Well, we are counting on you," said Bo.

"OK, I'll be back soon."

And so taking his horse, and glancing back at his friends one last time, he headed out. Link feared that the Ordon sword may not be enough to deal damage, so getting the Master Sword is a priority. He already knows the path to it so it shouldn't be to hard. The hard part is avoiding all the obstacles and falling to his death."

"Ah, there is the golden Cuccoo," said Link as he found the golden feathered bird. "I'm counting on you to get the job done, little birdie."

Then Link made the leap of faith as he clutched onto the chicken, and then safely landed on the other side.

"I made it. Alright, adios my shiny friend," he said as he threw the Cuccoo off the edge, only for it to fly back to safety.

The Cuccoos and Ooccas are quite famous for flying back to safety no matter how many times you throw them off. Afterwards, he headed towards the entrance to the Sacred Grove, barely getting through the tightropes and those things swinging back and forth. He entered hearing that familiar tune played by the mysterious creature he calls a skull kid. The weather in that little forest was quite nice actually, the air being warm with a cool breeze. Link could hear the wind blowing through the leaves as he marched on.

"Wah," Link exclaimed as several puppets pulled a jumpscare on him. "Oh, just those guys. I may have the Triforce of Courage, but that doesn't mean I am never scared. I can easily take care of these guys though. Hyaa!"

With several slashes, the puppets were easily slain. This happened a few times after, but they were no problem. So he kept on going through the grove. He did get lost a few times, but he eventually found the way when he spotted the skull kid and followed him. Thanks to the help of the skull kid, Link was able to make it to the area where they faced off a few times. Before pressing on, the little creature asked him something.

"Hello green clothed human. It has been awhile since you traveled these parts of the woods. What brings you here?"

"Hello Skull Kid. I'm here to reclaim my sword. I am going to need to rid Hyrule of a new enemy."

"Ah, the dragon that has plagued our land right?"

"Um, yeah," said Link, quite surprised that he knows of it since they live quite far from the Lanayru Province. "How do you know of it?"

"I saw it flying overhead at the castle when I was running around the woods. My, what a beast that was, it destroyed part of the castle you know."

That worried Link, since the castle was still in repairs from the blow Midna dealt to Ganondorf. Now the dragon had gone and wrecked it up again. Although he wasn't gonna trust the kid's words completely, because he may or may not be playing another trick on him. He already attacked Link twice after all. He'll just have to see the damage for itself.

"I see," was all Link could muster up.

"But since your getting that sword of yours, you should have no problem. I leave you to that. Let's play again. That is of course, if your are still alive," said Skull Kid as he left.

"OK. Wait, what!?"

Already gone. That last part wasn't really too encouraging. Leave it to him to confuse people.

"Well, I'm almost there anyway. I should go before more puppets show up."

Finally he was able to reach the remains of what used to supposedly be the Temple of Time The area was still so full of life, just like when he last came here. The only difference was the Twilight Portal, which used to be in the air in this area, was gone. It vanished along with the others when the mirror was shattered. Shaking that memory from his mind, Link went past the statues into the passageway. There it was, the Blade of Evil's Bane, the same sword which dealt the fatal blow on many enemies of the past, even Ganondorf. He approached the sword, taking it up once more to free Hyrule from new tyranny. As he took it up, some strange music played in the background.

" Strange, that music played the last time I got this sword, weird. But anyway, I got the sword, now I can face this monster," Link said as he walked off.

Then he paused at the patch with a Triforce on it when he realized something. The only way he got out of this place was via Twilight Portal, and that was gone. How else was he supposed to get out of here?

"Hey, stupid!"

He turned to the voice that called him that. It was Skull Kid.

"There is a huge whole in the wall to your left that you can exit from, you stupid idiot," said the little pest before disappearing again.

Link followed the advice and looked to his left, and sure enough, there was a huge crack. All he could do was face palm at his obliviousness. I guess there was a reason Zelda had the Triforce of Wisdom and not him.

"I can't believe it didn't see that. At the very least I got an exit."

And so he went to leave the Sacred Grove, feeling like such a fool.

* * *

I wanted to make a whole chapter for him getting the Master Sword back. The reason why was that he put it back in the Pedestal at the end, and I didn't want to skip forward to when he already has it. That would be a lazy move. Sorry if it was short. If you haven't already figured it out, the strange music playing is when you get the sword. And the other tune was Saria's theme. The fact Link didn't see the crack was because I didn't notice it until I looked for possible exits from the Sacred Grove. Then I just felt like a huge idiot. Sometimes I'm a genius, and other times a dumb blonde. Now that Link has the sword, he shall start heading towards the castle next chapter. Stick around for part 4.


	4. Gazing Upon the Enemy

Hello everyone. I hope that you guys are enjoying the story so far. The last chapter may have not been as serious as the previous two. Although this is a bit of a serious story, I do want to put in a bit of humor now and again to lighten the mood a bit. Last chapter was an example of that, but now the adventure starts here. My apologies if I threw anyone off for the sudden humor. Now let the 4th chapter begin.

* * *

Now that Link has the Master Sword in hand, he can finally do something about that dragon. Because it was nightfall and he was still close to home, he decided to sleep there. Come morning light, he headed off on Epona. He said hi to the man that boiled gross tasting soup along the way out. Now that he was out of the woods, he could see the castle with his own eyes.

"So, the Skull Kid wasn't joking around after all," Link said as he saw it.

A few days prior to receiving the letter, Link was on an errand to Castle Town to buy something from Malo Mart. Little Malo had become ill and was in need of a blue potion, which Link was able to get. He is doing much better now. Anyway, the castle was still in repairs, but it was almost restored to its original state. Now he can see a good portion of it was gone. If the dragon could do this, then he needed to take caution. He also realized that going to to the Malo Mart in town was not going to be an option. He'll have to settle for the one in Kakariko.

"I'm not gonna let this discourage me now. I should probably head to Kakariko Village to restock on supplies and make sure everyone is alright. Come on Epona, let's go."

So Link and Epona raced off to the Eldin Province, which wasn't far away. He was able to reach the village in at least ten minutes, since some little baddies were getting in the way. When he arrived to the village, it was quite barren. No one was out. Worried, Link called out to see if anyone was around.

"Hello! Is anyone here," he shouted.

No response.

"It's me, Link! Is anyone here!?"

"Link," said a familiar voice.

He turned around to one of the buildings to see the town's shaman, Renado.

"Oh thank Hylia that there are people here," Link said, happy to see that this place wasn't as deserted as he thought.

"My apologies, Link," said Renado. "We had heard the beast has settled in Hyrule, and so we were hiding for our safety."

"At least you guys are taking precautions. That thing could fly over at any time."

"Yes, but it has not come around here yet. However, we are not going to let down our guard."

"Good choice, do the Gorons know too?"

"Yes, so if they see it, they could warn us of the oncoming danger ahead of time."

"Hey you two!"

Link stopped his tracks when her heard the voice. He saw it was only an oncoming Goron, rolling towards them as if in a rush.

"What is the matter, Brock?"

Oh yeah, clever. A name that sounds like rock. What did you guys expects? The Goron named Brock was panting and gasping for air as he stopped.

"You two...better hide inside..the dragon is...coming our way..and fast!"

"Oh no," said Renado, "Link, come inside quickly, Epona too."

Link wasn't quite expecting the dragon to come here, and so soon too. But he did as he was told and went in with his horse. He also thanked Brock for warning them before it got here.

Inside Renado told Link, "It's not safe to go outside, but you can look out the window to gaze upon it."

A first glance would actually be a good idea, because then he could see what he was up against. In a few minutes, he saw the creature approach town, and what a huge thing it was. And if you guys read the first chapter you also don't need a description of it. Link gazed at her in awe and anger. Even though he had the sword in hand, Link just didn't want to risk the dragon going crazy and destroy the town. He could fight her in the Lanayru Province where they can have more room to fight, and have a lesser risk of destruction. She soon landed in town, wings tucking in as she walked. She started to approach the spring of Eldin, and as she did, their hearts started to race for fear of being discovered. She bent down her head to drink to water in it.

"If I'm going be busy spreading fear and getting food in the Eldin Province I might as well get a drink while I'm at it," said Astrid as she finished her drink. "I wonder if there are any Gorons here? Those things sound pretty good right now."

"Aw crap," said Brock after hearing her words.

"The water here is decent, but the water in the Lanayru Province is much better. If there are no Gorons here, I'll just have to look in the mountains. I haven't been there yet. But first...," she paused.

The group prayed that they would not be discovered, or that she discovered them. She bent her head down to look through some of the windows, probably looking for people. She looked through the window in the building they were in, but they were able to avoid being detected.

"It seems that this place is deserted. I could probably use this place to hide my newfound treasure, and prisoners. Well, I best be headed off the mountain for food."

And with that, she took off into the air into the direction of Death Mountain. The hiding people went back outside once she was out of sight.

"Man, I hope everyone is hiding up there," said the worried Goron. "I mean, we saw her coming our way so they should be safe."

"Worry not Brock," said Renado reassuringly. "If you all saw her beforehand, then they should be hiding inside the mountain away from detection. But now I fear we MST be even more careful if she is using this place for hauling."

"Now I see why the Princess says she's no good," said Link. "This place does have a few hiding places you guys can hide in, so you guys shouldn't be in too much of a risk. She won't come by here all the time either. Oh, I almost forgot, are the shops open? I need to get ammo for some of my items."

"Yes they are. But if you need bombs, make sure you knock on the door and tell him it's you. That coward Barnes has been holed up in his shop ever since this whole ordeal began."

"Alright."

So Link went into the Malo Mart in town and got more arrows and some red potion. He went into Barnes' Bomb Shop to get bombs, though when he first entered there, Barnes was hiding in the corner shaking lines a leaf. The rest of his items really didn't need ammo, so he walked back outside. Then he heard a roar. He quickly hid behind a well to avoid detection. Astrid was flying away from the town, so there was no danger. Then he saw a something in her mouth. Link used his Hawkeye device to get a better look, and then he saw it: a Goron.

"It looks like one of your guys isn't so lucky, Brock," Link said, feeling pity for the creature.

"Oh my god! She took Rocky! You bastard," Brock yelled as the dragon flew off with one of their own. "Poor Rocky, he was always getting into trouble, and now he's dinner."

"This is horrible, said Renado calmly, "and I fear that this will not be the end of the raiding of Hyrule."

"Zelda was right about it taking our people and resources, this can't go on."

Link went back to his horse and approach end the two to bid farewell.

"I wish I could stay longer, but this dragon has to go now."

"Then we shall pray for your safety and success. Farewell."

"Yeah, go and avenge Rocky so that he didn't die in vain!"

And with that, Link started to head towards the Lanayru Province to end that dragon before it destroys the kingdom even more. While he rode off, he was thinking of how to beat that dragon. The one thing that concerned him was the fact her body is covered in armor. That would be hard to get off, but he has several things that may do the trick...maybe. Or maybe not. That thing might be tougher to take out than he originally thought, but he has to try or Hyrule is doomed.

* * *

If the ending sucked, I'm sorry. I wanted to give Link a little sneak peak at the foe he would be facing, instead of him facing Astrid and not know what to do or what strategy to use. There is a reference to a TV show here if you guys can spot it. Since the Gorons are rock people, I thought I'd give them rock based named, and sorry if they're too simple. Anyway, its late over here, and I gotta go to bed. Good night everyone.


	5. Life in the Castle

Hello everyone. The weekend is upon us, and I sure am happy about it. Nothing special is happening really, but I can at least relax, draw, write, and sleep. I need to stop staying up late on a school night, but I can't help it. This chapter is going to be sort of like a bonus, showing what was going on in the castle while Link heads over there. Anyway, let the next chapter start.

* * *

As Link is making his way to the Lanayru Province through Eldin, let's shift our focus back to the castle. Ever since Astrid has taken Hyrule as her own, she has settled in what used to be the almost-fixed castle. She has not been here for too long, and she has already caused some terror in this land. People have been too scared to fight her, as angering her may result in a burned skeleton where they once stood. The princess herself is in a bind as well, for even though she has been spared death, she has been forced to be a personal servant for the dragon. Even though she brought this upon herself, she didn't want all of her people to die all in the same day. At this moment, Zelda is making a necklace suitable for Astrid, orders from the beast on wings herself, made of the gold and gems she has available.

"Finally, I am nearly done," said Zelda as she worked, "it just needs a clasp. *sigh* It's a beautiful piece, but is there really no end to this avarice? A necklace of gold and gems, a cake ten times the size it should be, have the people perform a fight to the death for entertainment. If it keeps my people alive, I guess I have no choice but to follow orders."

She then heard the familiar roar of Astrid, she has come back from her latest raid. If Zelda were to guess it would be the mountains this time. Already she raided all there is in Lanaryu, and now she is focusing on the east. She landed in the gardens, where she has made her little resting place.

"Oh Zelda," she chimed, "I have returned from my little trip! Have you finished the job yet?"

"Yes, Mistress Astrid," said Zelda using the name the dragon made her use. "Is this satisfactory for you?"

Astrid looked at the jewelry. It was a work of art, something the princess put her heart and soul into. Zelda could only hope that she wouldn't be too harsh this time and make her redo it.

"Hm. Personally, It would have been better if there were more rubies on it, but since I'm in a good mood, I'll let it slide. Now, put it on me."

She did as she was told, but there was no thank you in return, surprise surprise. Instead, she started to talk about her opinions and plans on Hyrule.

"You know, the Lanayru Province has better water in my opinion, Eldin water sucks. I loved the mountains though, I even found a Goron! He was quite crunchy, but tasty overall. There was this village below the mountain too, I think I'll use it to keep some of my treasure and prisoners. I already have a few people I wasn't to put in prison, just common people that have gotten under my scales is all."

"...I see," was all Zelda could muster.

As calm as Zelda was on the outside, she was quite hurt on the inside. Astrid only cares about herself, and takes no consideration to how others feel, even Zelda. Does she not know how cruel she is? Then Zelda thought of something which had to do which had to do with Astrid moving into this land.

"I forgot to ask," the princess started, "there are other places in Hyrule that have more room. Why did you choose to live in the castle?"

She was quite curious, because a castle that seems huge to a person may be small to a big creature. Why settle here?

"I settle here because this is the one place a ruler lives. If I live here, people will see the castle and think, 'what a terrible beast, I'm so scared, what do we do,' and cower in fear. Plus, everything I would need is close by the center of the land. Does that answer your question?"

"Yes, it makes sense to me now. Thank you."

This is so like a tyrannical ruler. Always wanting to take over the castle, the symbol of power and authority in the whole land. All just to make that bad guy seem like the he is an all powerful man that can take anything and anyone down. But in a way, it make sense, as this would be the best way to do just that. Clearly this isn't the first time Astrid has done this either. How many kingdoms had to suffer the same fate? That may forever be a mystery.

"You know, a Goron is good, but I think I could go for some more meat. Zelda, I command you to prepare me a meal, preferably fish. I don't care for how it's served, but you won't sleep tonight if I don't get food. Understood?"

"Yes Mistress Astrid. If we don't have fish here, I shall talk to the Zoras to get us some."

"Fine, do what you must. Now get out of my sight," Astrid said as she dismissed her.

With that, Zelda left the gardens to fulfill Astrid's orders. She still has quite a bit of fish left, but she would need at least 6 more for it to be a satisfactory meal. Before she continued, she threw several pots on the ground out of frustration. Zelda has worked tirelessly, and that, along with seeing her people suffer, was starting to already take its toll on the princess. She would have the guards help her, but they too have left in fear of death, leaving her to do things herself. All she could do now was cry, now that she was alone.

"I just can't go on like this," Zelda cried, "I'm trying so hard to be strong for my people, and that beast is being so heartless! Oh Link, please hurry, Hyrule is in desperate need of your help! Please help us."

She stayed like that for a few minutes until she finally cried her frustration out. Zelda was a normally strong individual, but she was starting to crack under all of this weight. And it has not even been long. Thank Astrid for knowing how to break people's spirits. She knew crying wouldn't make all her problems go away, but she couldn't keep all of her emotions bottled up forever. Everyone has to let their hair down at some point. After calming down, she had gotten ready to head out for more fish. Astrid loved the taste of the Lanayru fish.

"I had better start heading over to Zora's Domain. Thankfully it isn't to far away. I know the Zoras are as sick of this whole mess as the rest of us, but we have no choice but to comply."

On the way, she was thinking of how Link was going to kill that beast. The one thing that she was concerned with was the armor Astrid wore. She did touch it once before, and it was quite tough. She prayed that it wasn't an armor that was too strong to break through. She shook that horrible thought out of her mind, trying not to think off the worst. As she walked down the hall to the exit, she caught something shining in a pile of rubble. Curious as to what it was, Zelda decided to walk over to it. As she picked it up, she found out it wasn't a jewel, but a perfect circular mirror that fit the palm of her hand.

"Strange, this castle doesn't have mirrors like this, or at least mirrors this small...wait, I've seen this pattern before."

She flipped it around to see the back was made of stone, only the front was the mirror. Then it hit her.

"The Mirror of Twilight," she said confused, "but the Mirror was broken into pieces in front of our eyes. And yet, here is the center piece, and in a perfect circle too. Why would this be here?"

"PRINCESS ZELDA!"

Zelda jumped at the sound of her name. She turned around to see Astrid looking right at her.

"Why are you just standing around and doing what I asked you to do," she roared.

"Mistress Astrid, I was about to head out right now."

"...Well don't just stand around, get my food right now!"

Alright, I am going," she said as she left through the castle doors. "Phew, at least she didn't she that mirror piece. I should probably keep this to myself for now."

She needed to figure out why it was here in the first place. It was sunset right now, almost the famed hour of twilight. As she was riding on a horse on the Zora's Domain, the glass piece started to glow in her hand. She stopped to see why it was doing that. As the setting sun shone on the piece, Zelda could see why it was at her castle. It had a message to tell her.

* * *

And cue the cliffhanger! Sorry guys, but I don't want you to see what that message said yet. A piece of the mirror at the ruined castle, containing a message. Wonder what it could say? You'll have to find out. I won't put it in the next chapter though, because I want the meeting of Link and the beast to happen. Anyway, I hope this chapter was alright for all of you. See you all in the next chapter


	6. Facing the Acid Dragon

Hello everyone. The sky has finally turned sunny again over here, as the heavy rain of yesterday has passed. I'm not really complaining though, I like the rain. Here in California, or at least the area of California I live in, we don't get rain too often. One time during lunch break at school, it started raining very hard, and then thunder came along. Pretty cool lunch break. Has that happened to any of you readers before? Anyway, here is chapter 6.

* * *

Shifting back to focus on our hero, he has just entered the Lanayru Province. As he and Epona slowly rode by, he saw the state this place was in. The castle was more damaged than he thought it was, some trees have either been knocked over or burnt, and there were several skeletons on the ground. Link felt bad for all of these people that had failed to escape the fury of the dragon.

"These poor unfortunate souls," Link started, "at least the dragon can't hurt you all anymore. This can't keep going on. This dragon has to go, or more people are going to suffer the same fate."

He decided that he had to hurry over to the castle to beat Astrid. He had already taken to consideration as to what items could possible be effective on her armor. Bombs, bomb arrows, the ball and chain, maybe the spinner, maybe the iron boots just to kick her, then there is the sword. Those were his strongest and destructive weapons he had on hand. It was getting a bit late, as the hour of twilight has set upon the land, but he knew that this couldn't wait any longer. He rode up to the bridge to the castle, which was fortunately still in one piece.

"OK Epona, I am going to go kill the dragon," said Link as he dismounted his horse, "you go and wait here, and I'll be back soon."

As he went into town, the streets were deserted, save a few more skeletons. Some of the buildings have also been destroyed, save Malo Mart, which had somehow been unharmed. That place must have been indestructible. He then saw a guard on the ground, and Link had to go to him to see if he was alright.

"Sir, are OK," Link said.

No response.

"Sir?"

He turned the guard around, only to see that the front of his body was covered in blood. Link then felt his skin, which was cold.

"Dammit, another casualty. How many people have died?"

"It's a horrid sight isn't it," said a voice he knew well.

"Telma, your still alive! Thank goodness there are still survivers."

"Yeah, I'm just fine, but this place has become quite deserted. Many of the people living here have either died, been taken prisoner, or have fled to safety. There are only a few people still left in town."

"How awful. What about the resistance group at your bar? Are they OK?"

"Yes. Because the dragon was too strong for them, they helped most of the people escape from here. They must have taken refuge as well."

"I see. Listen, this place is not safe, you and the remaining people should get out of here while you still can."

"Alright then. If you are going to face the dragon, please be careful. She did all of this after all."

"I promise."

And with that, Link started heading over to the castle gates. They were not locked, in fact, it was still slightly ajar. Had someone pass by these gates recently? As he entered the castle grounds, Link knew he was going through very dangerous territory. Most of the castle had been destroyed by the raid. He could only hope that Princess Zelda was OK. He could also hear the dragon from where he was standing, and could see part of her wings. He had no time to cower now, he had to slay her for the sake of everyone in Hyrule. He started going towards the direction of Astrid. Although before he got too far, he heard a voice.

"You are small, but I can still hear you, human."

He looked up to see the dragon was staring right at him.

"Hm. You look quite different from all the other scum I've seen so far. You are not from this province, aren't you," she said.

"I am not," Link said, "just as you are not from this land."

"And you would be right. Now, what is a pretty little man such as yourself doing in MY castle."

"Listen you. This castle-"

"I have a name you know," she interuppted, "it's Astrid the Acid Dragon."

"...OK. Astrid, this castle belongs to Princess Zelda, and I am here to destroy you, for the sake of all people in Hyrule, dead and alive!"

Astrid said nothing to him, just stared at him. Then she just burst into laughter, as if Link had just said the funniest thing in the whole world. So hard that her face had started going a darker shade of green. Link could also see a small bit of green goo escaping her mouth, which he could only assume was the aforementioned acid in Zelda's letter. After a few minutes, she calmed down.

"Ah human, you must be joking," she said with a smile. "This is my castle, because I have the princess as my servant. I also have this land all to myself. Not a single soul was brave enough to face me because they just cower in fear at me. And you say you are going to kill me? You might as well be waving a white flag to your entire existence!"

"That is quite an arrogant thing to say, you know. I could be your worst nightmare, and you don't even know because of your cockiness."

"Well, no one has ever stood up to me like you do. Except for the princess of course. You know what I'm gonna do since you are so humorous, I think I'll give you a sporting chance."

Astrid was gonna let Link fight and kill her just like that? Would she really be so easy and let him do that?

"You say that, but no enemy wants the hero to get a chance to kill them. There is a catch isn't there."

"Correct," she said proudly, "I am quite strong, I have acid powers, my tail is a lantern, and I have armor covering most of my body. You have a chance, but is it possible for you to hurt me?"

Link took all she said into consideration. It was going to be difficult with all of her abilities. But has difficulties ever stopped him from beating bad guys before? No.

"Yes I can. But first, can we do this outside the castle? Its too crowded here."

"I second that. Alright, let us go."

She got up from where she was resting and carefully picked Link up off the ground. With him in her mouth, she took off to the sky. They went outside off the castle to properly fight. When she found a proper spot, she dropped him gently to the ground. They both prepared themselves to fight each other.

"OK human, are you prepared to lose?"

"Are you prepared to die," Link retorted.

"Hahaha, just try me!"

With that, she lifted her hand to try and crush him, but Link was able to dodge just in time. Recovering from the dodge, he grabbed out his bombs from the bag as bottomless as Mary Poppins' and threw them at her direction. When they exploded, she lifted her hand at the slight pain.

"Ouchie," she said, seeing a few scales on her hand gone. "That felt like a spider bit me. Come on, I know you can do better than that!"

He now knew bombs may not have the accuracy he needed, so he combined them with his arrows. He avoided the oncoming tail and shot one at her face. The arrow exploded on her snout, and she pulled her head back in response. He shot a few more at her face, and she started to groan a bit from the pain.

"Gah! Oh, so you want to play dirty huh? Then take this!"

She started to form acid in her mouth, and Link could see it dripping at the corners. He shot an arrow at her mouth and she closed it. He never heard it explode. Astrid only laughed with her mouth full as Link just stared at her in shock. She then spat the acid at Link's direction, and he held up his shield in defense. It was able to protect him, but a bit of his clothing got singed from it. Good thing he wore three layers of clothing.

"Haha, your bombs don't stand a chance in my mouth! I see you have something to protect you from my acid. But you'll have to try harder to beat me!"

"Dammit, you're quite a tough foe."

He then grabbed his ball and chain and started to swing it around. He then threw it at her armor to see what it could do.

"What," Link exclaimed when he saw the results. It only made a slight dent. "What the hell kind of armor are you wearing?"

"Do you like it? I won't tell you what it's made of, but it is strong enough to protect my body from things like your ball and chain. I am just so in love with it! Wanna hit me again,"she said tauntingly.

"Gah," Link exclaimed as he threw the steel ball at her armor again. Another small dent. He did that three more times with same result before hitting her face with it.

"Ow! WHY'D YOU DO THAT FOR," she roared, angry that her face was hit by steel.

A small trail of blood was running down her nostrils, indicating that her nose may have been broken in that hit.

"You little rat, you gonna pay for that!"

Link then tried the spinner to see if that would do something. It just made a clank sound as it bounced him back.

"The spinner won't work either. Then it looks like I will have to use the Master Sword on her."

The strongest weapons Link had are having very little effect on the dragon. Even though he also had iron boots, that would put him at a disadvantage in speed, which he needs. With that in mind, he grabbed his sword and tried to slash at her. As hard as he swung his sword to strike her, she was not taking much damage. She was quite big, and there wasn't much to grab onto to get on her. She just kept on moving to fast, and he can't strike her face because she keeps it high. Stabbing her hands only deals a small bit of pain to her. It then struck to the hero as he barely avoided the next acid ball. He was fighting a losing battle.

"No," Link said as he realized it, "As hard as I try, she isn't taking much damage. I can't do anything to that armor, only make small dents. At this rate, she's gonna overpower me."

Link himself was getting tired for fighting too hard. Astrid saw her opportunity to strike him, and she hit him with her claw. He flew across the field as he took the full force of the blow and slammed into at tree. He was bruised quite bad from that hit, and it hurt to move. Astrid just laughed as she approached him, the moon shining down on the back of her head as he looked up.

"AHAHAHA," she laughed, "It looks like you have failed in defeat in me! You may or may not have broken my nose, but you have lost nonetheless! And as my reward, I shall take pleasure in disposing of you."

She lifted up her claw to show that she meant it.

_"I have to get up and slay her. But it hurts to much to move. I didn't want it all to end this way,"_ Link thought as he saw his death coming towards him.

"Astrid, don't kill him!"

Link was surprised at the sudden voice. He didn't expect anyone to come here with that dragon around. And yet, here she was, defending him from the blow that would end his life. The voice belonged to no one else but Princess Zelda.

"Back off Zelda," Astrid said with an irritated voice. "Can't you see I'm about to kill someone?"

"You've killed so many people already, can't you spare one?"

"This man decided to fight me, and he has failed. I have the right to kill him as my reward. Now move it!"

Regardless of her order, Zelda just stood her ground. She wasn't gonna let Astrid kill their only hope.

"You're quite serious about this aren't you? Determined to make me spare him."

She was only greeted with silence. None of them moved for some seconds. The victorious dragon then started weighing her current options. Does she kill them both, kill one of them, or just let them live? After finally deciding, she broke the silence.

"*sigh* I suppose I should spare his life this time," she said in defeat. "He is the first person to ever fight me after all."

"Really, thank you for not killing him," said the princess.

"But be forewarned, the next time I see this man, I WILL kill him. I'll let you talk to him for a few minutes, but I expect you to come back Zelda. I'm going back to sleep until you finish my meal."

And with that, Astrid took off back into the castle. Zelda turned around to see the injured hero.

"Link, are you alright?"

"I'm alive, but I'm so sore from that fight. It hurts to move."

"I'm sorry that you're like this. But listen to me, I need to give you something. It appeared at my castle earlier today, and I think it may help you."

She handed him the item, and Link gazed upon it. He was shocked when he realized what it was.

"Zelda, wasn't the Mirror completely shattered? Why is this here?"

"I don't have time to explain it, but it has a very important message in it. It will only appear when the Hour of Twilight begins. The message is an important clue that I know will help you. Now go, call your horse and go back home to rest," she said helping him up of the ground.

"I can ride you over to the castle, and then I'll go," Link said as he used his horse whistle.

Link was careful going on his horse, and Zelda did the same. They rode on Epona through the empty Lanaryu Province until they reached the bridge that connects to the Castle Town.

"Alright. Please stay safe for your people's sake, Princess Zelda."

"Thank you Link. You did your best to face the dragon as well. Don't let her get you down. Please be safe on your way back. Good night Link."

With that, she went of into the castle, and out of Link's sight. With a broken sense of pride, he started his journey back to the Ordona Province. Link had thought about the piece of the Mirror of Twilight Zelda had given. The mirror was completely broken, so why was this piece still intact? Regardless, he held an important item that may help him on his quest. For now, he could do nothing more but rest and wait for twilight to set upon the world

* * *

And that is the end of the 6th Chapter. Sorry this chapter was soooo long, but this was gonna be an important one too. This is the first battle scene I have ever written, so I was kinda nervous, but I think it was OK. I wasn't gonna let Astrid die this chapter, oh no. That would make this story end too short, and that would be bad. There is so much more I want to write about in this story. I shall end this Author's Note here, so I hope to see you in the next chapter. I'm gonna go to bed now, so good night to all of you.


	7. The Message

Hello everyone. Well, the weekend is over, but I enjoyed it while it lasted even though I didn't do much but be lazy. I might as well since I get busy on weekdays. This coming Friday I am taking a trip with the choir class, and I won't be back till early Sunday morning, so I won't upload anything those days. Just wanted to tell you all now so you can expect it when the time comes. On to the 7th chapter.

* * *

The sun had already rose over the world, beginning another day in the life of Hyrule. As uneasy as the people living in the village were, the dragon has not been to their area as of yet. The people were unaware of the fact that Link had failed to defeat the menace that threatens them all. Ilia was no exception. She puts much faith in Link to do the right thing. As she started making her way towards the spring, she saw Epona at her post, and knew that Link had come home. She couldn't help but knock on his door. He was normally was up during this time anyway.

"Link," she said as she knocked the door. "You're back so soon. Did everything go OK?"

No response. She pressed her ear on the door only to hear groaning. He was up alright, but this was not the sleepy kind of groan. It sort of sounded like...

"Link," she said concerned, "she hurt you didn't she?"

"...Can you help me up," he finally said. "I'm too sore to move well."

This coming from a hero? She knew Link sleeps in sometimes, but he wouldn't be this bad about it. Ilia thought that, but decided not to say anything about it. She did think that he may be in pain though, and those thoughts were confirmed when she stepped inside. Link was just lying on his bed, but his adventure clothes were still on.

"Link, are you OK?"

"Sort of, but my body is sore from being knocked into a tree," Link said as she helped him up.

"Oh Link, she could have killed you!"

"If it weren't for the princess, she would have."

This worried her greatly. She just found out her closest friend was almost done in by that dragon. If that were to have happened, then all of Hyrule would have been lost. Not only that, but everyone in the village would have lost their most reliable friend.

"So she is still alive."

"For now. She is quite the strong foe, not even Ganondorf was this bad. And he had the Triforce of Power mind you. I do have a lead that may destroy her though."

"A lead? That's great! Even a small bit of information can help you."

"Yeah, but that won't be until the hour of twilight sets upon us, so all we can do is wait."

"I see. Well while you wait, you should relax. You need to get your strength up. I can make some food for you if you'd like."

"That's great. Thanks"

Ilia made Link a nice bowl of soup to eat. He did as he was told and rested while he could. Even a hero such as himself has his limits. After eating, Ilia took of to take care of his horse, make sure she is alright as always. Link had also been mulling over his defeat, because even though he tried his hardest, that arrogant dragon dealt quite a blow to his body, and pride. It was personal now. It was about an hour from noon, so all he could do was wait. What he did not expect was the huge roar that followed.

"Oh no," said Link as he got up his feet. "It's distant, but she is nearby. I need to warn everyone before it gets here!"

He rushed out his house, but he forgot about the ladder to help him down. As a result, he fell right on his face.

"...ow."

He recovered and went into town, but only saw them already panicking. It looks like they heard Astrid too.

"Link, there you are," said Rusl as he came up to him, "thank goodness you are fine. Ilia said you have received quite a beating by the dragon."

"Yes. I failed to beat her, but I was waiting for a message for a weakness to appear. It looks like she is getting close to home."

"I know. The people are panicking, but I'm trying to get them to calm down. My family is already safe, but Ilia is still out."

"Not anymore," Ilia said as she ran towards them, "I headed back when I heard the roar."

"Good," Link said. "Listen, help these people get to safety, and I'll see if she is coming this way. She has a grudge against me, so I can lead her of if it comes to it."

"Right," they said in unison, and ran to help the people.

Link didn't take Epona with him in fear of discovery, and took off to the Faron Woods where the sound came from. He could only pray that Astrid had no intention of coming to the village. He did have a plan if things went sour, so it should be OK. She was over at the Faron Spring getting a drink, and from Link's perspective, she looked quite angry. As she lifted her head, he saw a bandage on her snout. Now he knew that her nose was indeed broken from the ball and chain.

"That damn hero," she started, "I finally get a chance to beat another one, and then the princess has to go and get in the way. Guilt tripping me, making me seem so heartless. At least I spared her life when I took over the kingdom! At least she was punished for her meddling. A broken arm for a broken nose, now we are even. Ha, let's see her try to meddle again..."

Link was infuriated when he heard that. He just wanted to march over there and slap her right in the face. He would be discovered though, so he stayed put. The things that the princess has to go through just to keep her people from being skeletons, it must be a horrifying experience. Then he started wondering what made her go silent.

"*sigh* I didn't want to resort to that, but how else was I supposed to make my point across? I need to keep up my evil appearances, or how would the people respect and fear me? I need to be on top of the world, to be the strongest dragon who ever lived! Even if it takes my whole life, I will do ANYTHING accomplish my goal!"

Did Link just sense sudden guilt? A dragon that evil feeling guilt over a simple action? No. He just couldn't see that. She just said she wanted to be on top, and look at all the damage she did. Astrid is evil, and she needs to be stopped.

"If I can just beat that hero, then all of Hyrule will be mine with no one to stop me," she said with that evil smirk of hers. "This forest is quite nice, and vast too. Perhaps I can use this place as a resting place, and a training ground too. This water is quite fresh compared to Eldin and Lanayru. There is more to see here, but I think that is enough raiding here for now. I shall have that stupid servant of a princess prepare me lunch."

That's it, she's a dead reptile. There is no way this forest is gonna be wrecked by her claws. At the very least, she left without heading to Ordona, so the people can rest easy. Poor Zelda. She can be an enigma sometimes, but Link can imagine her suffering inside and out. It's only a matter of time before she finally breaks under Astrid's control.

"Please Zelda, stay strong," he said to himself.

He headed back to the village to tell everyone that it was all clear. With her out of the way, the people finally calmed down. Even so, there was still uneasiness in the air, as the danger of invasion was imminent. What if she had come in a time when no one was prepared? What then? Regardless of the questionable future, they have to keep moving.

"Hey Link," said the voice of Fado, "I'm sorry to bother you, but the goats have become awful skittish since that dragon came by. I need you help in putting them away."

"Alright then, let me get Epona."

"OK, I'll run on ahead."

"I should at least do something to pass the time, it will take a few hours till twilight comes."

It took quite a while for Link to get them all in this time. These goats were more restless than he had ever seen them. He had got out with more bruises than last time too, which didn't help his still sore body at all. After he got back to his house, he decided that he should rest more. He was so worried he didn't realize how tired he was.

_-time skip a few hours-_

Link was woken up suddenly by a strange sound. He looked out the window to see the sky in the colors of sunset, and he knew that it was time. He found that mirror piece in that pocket, and saw it glowing brightly, almost blindingly so. He could feel his heart racing racing for what was about to come. And then it happened, the mirror piece formed a hologram from the reflective side up. Link couldn't believe the hologram of the person he was seeing right in front of him

"Midna."

Then the message spoke.

"_This message goes to both Princess Zelda and the hero Link. Before I say anything, I want you both to know my reason behind breaking the Mirror of Twilight. You both deserve an explanation. I feel guilty for breaking our only link, but it had to be done to prevent an event like before from ever befalling our worlds again. I apologize that I caused you grief."_

_"_I see. It was the right thing to do, but there always has to be problems," Link thought to himself.

_"This brings me to my next point. You're probably wondering why this part of the mirror is fixed. You see, during the time Zelda's soul stayed within me, I was able to stay alive in the light. However, I discovered that I could sense when the world of light is in danger because of it. I did some looking into the new enemy and found out it was that dragon Astrid, who is not from Hyrule at all. She is wearing some sort of armor that can not be removed from even the strongest of force. I think that strong magic can do the trick, but Zelda won't be strong enough to do it."_

_"_I know. She looked a bit weak when I saw her. Is she even getting enough food to eat?"

_"But with the powers from my ancestors, I'm sure I can break it off. When it does, she will be completely vulnerable to any attack. So, I tried to reform the mirror. It took a lot of energy, but the mirror did not become whole. It was separated into shards once again. The center is the one I put my message because it came into my realm, but__ the other four are hidden in Hyrule. Because this piece is activated when twilight comes, it can show you the way to the other pieces that lay hidden. Bring them to the mirror chamber, and then it can once again be restored. I know that if she stays, your kingdom will eventually perish. This our only way of killing her, and we cannot fail. I have faith that you will be successful. Princess Midna, signing off."_

The message ended there, and the hologram of Link's partner disappeared. If what she said were true, then this piece can find the others, and the mirror can be restored. He knows that she is very powerful, he's seen that displayed several times throughout their journey. Now he holds the key to Astrid's defeat. Before he could further think, the mirror started shining once again.

"Did she forget to say something? Maybe it's something else important."

Instead, the mirror piece shown some sort of place. It looked like the entrance to the Forest Temple where he had received that first piece of the Fused Shadow.

"So this is where the first piece lies. Since it's close to home, I can head over there right now. I think I rested enough today, but now it's time to save the world again. This time for real!"

With that, he grabbed his gear and horse, and started making his way to the Forest Temple. It may be likely he could face a boss, as the Mirror of Twilight could drastically transform a creature into a monster. But Link has faced bosses before, and it will be no different now. There is no backing out, now that he knows how to beat her. One of the most important thoughts that ran through his mind was that he can finally reunite with his partner after over a month of separation. Look out Astrid, your demise is coming soon!

* * *

And so Link began his adventure anew. I wanted to feature Astrid to show a bit of her motive, as it was only a bit vague in the previous chapters. Maybe a bit of symbolism to impending doom, as Faron is close to Ordona. I was kind of dragging my feet to finish this chapter, even though I had some free time to write. That is the power of procrastination for you, and I do it SO often. I was also trying to make it flow nicely and still make sense. The way Midna speaks is based on her way of speaking when she turned back into her real form, not her sassy sarcastic self. Anyway, this chapter is done, and I hope that you enjoyed it. See you next time.


	8. The First Shard: Forest Temple

Hello everyone. Sorry that this chapter is later than usual, but I was busy with school stuff. But now I am free from school, and I am an official high school graduate! I've also been kinda struggling with the structure of Link actually going into dungeons and bosses to face, and I don't expect this chapter to be perfect. Since this will be an easier dungeon, this place is short. Future ones I may write two chapters for, but I haven't gone too far yet. My skills will improve as I go along. Progress may be slow now, but not for to much longer...hopefully.

* * *

With the setting sun shining in the west, Link made his way to the location of the first missing shard. He had a bad start into saving Hyrule again, but with a new hope, he finally has a way to deal with his scaly menace. The poisonous fog that was once an obstacle had cleared up long since the death of Ganondorf, and Link can safely cross. As he made his way up the hill to the entrance, he saw a monkey approach him, the one with the rose on her head. Why she was near there?

"Ah, it's you," Link said to the monkey, "the one who helped me out here in the past. What are you doing here?"

She approached him, all the while making chimp noises and movements, as if she was trying to tell him something. It then occurred to Link that he can't actually talk to her unless he was a wolf, and that wasn't happening anytime soon.

"I'm sorry, I forgot I can't speak to animals as a human. Listen Roselaine," Link says as he refers her to the name he gave her," there is danger here in the temple again, I just know it. If it comes to it, I may need you and your friend's help again. It will really help in dealing with that menace that came by here recently."

She nods her head, as if she understood what Link was telling her. The home she and her friends have had been recently marked as a training ground for that dragon. They need someone to help them out again, and this hero sure can do the job. He's already done it a few times before, and for that the monkeys are grateful. She then runs past Link to find her hidden friends.

"I have been in this temple before, so it shouldn't be too difficult...will it?"

He made his way into the entrance of the Forest Temple. Just as it was before, the inside flourished with plants and insects. And yet he could feel a darker presence in this place, just like when the Fused Shadow was present here. As he walked up the the vine walls, he saw a few snakes slither by slowly. They were just garter snakes, harmless to humans, but this was the first time Link had seen them here.

"Funny, I don't recall seeing them here the last time I came by," Link thought as he climbed up. "I don't see a problem with it though, these snakes won't hurt me."

He goes through the door to only to have some monkeys pass by him. He watched as they got on their place on the ropes, ready to help swing Link across.

"Thank you, Roselaine," Link says to himself.

He digs in his pocket to see that he still has the map and compass from this temple. Perfect, thank the almighty bottom less pit of a pocket.

"Even though I have the map and compass, the shard should most likely be in the room where the Fused Shadow was," Link thought to himself as he started heading forward, "It seems logical enough."

With this in mind, he started to head towards the direction of said room, with the help of the monkeys to get him across. Even though its been about a month, the temple hasn't drastically changed. One major difference, however, was those darn snakes. This habitat was right for them of course, but why now and not then? As he thought about this, he entered into he wrong room, and came face to face with the Big Baba.

"Oops, wrong room," Link said, then turned around to leave.

Apparently the door picked the wrong time to shut Link in by a locked door.

"Looks like I won't be able to get out till I beat you again, huh. Okay then, bring it on!"

Link then proceeded to attack it, hitting it every time his head came down, and using his arrows when the head went out of his reach. He was doing a good job at killing it until some snakes picked a good time to crawl towards Link.

"Agh," Link exclaimed when one tried to get around his leg, which he was able to get off.

As he did this, the deku baba was able to knock him off his feet. He groaned as he recovered from the hit, and killed the plant beast as quickly as it had hit him. He then proceeded on killing its main body with a bomb. When it died, the door was accessible once again.

"These snakes are gonna be an issue if they are getting in the way like this. Aw, I killed this one by accident."

He took a look at it and notice something. Its eyes...were a reddish black.

"These snakes aren't normal. What could have caused their eyes to turn this shade? Bah, I don't have time for this, I need to get to the mirror shard."

With the help of his trusty sword and boomerang, he had finally reached the inner rooms of the temple. The monkeys, already there ready to help, made a long rope with their bodies to get Link across. Luckily the huge door didn't need the boss key to get through, so he opened it, ready for what would await him. As he went inside, he saw the room was in a peaceful state. A few insects zipping to and fro, the water pristine, and the quiet nature provides. But this was not what he had hoped the room would be upon entry.

"I don't understand," Link said, obviously dumbfounded. "The mirror has to be here, this is the boss room for crying out loud! No, no, I can't be fooled by subtle appearances. Maybe a boss/guardian was protecting it, and hiding so that it could get me by surprise! Well I'm no fool."

He then noticed that a big monkey came through and opening in the wall. It was Ook. The leader came down , looking as if he wanted to say something.

"Oh Ook, what is it?"

Ook had made several gestures to communicate, but all Link got was 'this room' and 'no.' If only he could turn into a wolf so he could understand him. After several minutes of thinking, he got it. The mirror was in another room.

"...Well screw Legend of Zelda logic apparently," was all he could say. "Thanking for telling me Ook. You know, you look like your in pain, did something get you?"

He responded by showing Link his back. He had a few bad scratches on him, and his fur was covered with blood. Link felt bad, seeing animals getting hurt or being in pain sort of struck a chord in his heart. He remember having some red potion in his pocket, maybe that could help him.

"Here Ook, you'll feel better if you drink this."

He took the potion, observed it, and proceeded in drinking it. Almost immediately, he felt the pain in his back disappear, and he jumped around in happiness.

"A monster did that to you, am I right? Can you show me where?"

The happy baboon nodded, and made his way to the door, making a 'come here' motion. Link followed him, using the monkey rope to get across the probably bottomless pit. He was disappointed that the mirror wasn't in the boss room like it normally would, but happy that he now has a lead. Link slayed all of the skulltulas and bokoblins along the way, as they were always pests to the quest. He also wondered what monster could have done that to him, as there aren't many creatures in this place that deal out scratches. After trekking through the temple, they ended up at the starting point.

"Where now?"

Ook went up to the north path, and that would have pointed to the room where Link had faced him. It was quite windy outside, and it was dark too. Link was pretty sure his lantern was full, but he hoped the room wouldn't be too dark. The pair got across the huge gap, as the bridge had not yet been fixed. With no time to lose, Link opened the door to the room. It was still a big bright thankfully, and Link could see a grassy green mound near the back of the room. Ook had a menacing look on his face when he set eyes upon it.

"Is that the thing that attacked you," Link said as he noticed the gaze.

The mound of green seemed to move a bit, probably from the sound of the door and Link's voice. Ook then took off ahead of Link, and exited through the opening in the wall.

"I hope your leaving to get help."

The mound then rose its head, and gazed upon the head obviously belonged to that of a snake with red-black eye, only this one had a helmet tightly attached on its head. It hissed as it saw him, uncoiling his body to get into battle position. Link saw that unlike the other snakes, this one had arms with three claws on each hand. This was definitely the creature that attacked Ook, why else would there be blood on its claws. It then made its move on Link, moving with good speed, though he was able to dodge him.

"This one is quite speedy," Link thought, "and considering the fact that it has a helmet on its head, I think I shall call it **The Twilit Reptile: Helmasnake King**."

The King, angry that he had missed his human target, lunged at Link again, and when he dodged again, the reptile swooped his bloody claws. This time he got the hero's arm, but only slightly. Link hissed at the slight pain he felt in his right arm, but seeing the beast come up again, he blocked and swing his sword in it's middle. It roared in pain, and backed off for a minute. Link took some quick time to think of a solution.

"He seems to keep focus on me. Perhaps if I can distract him, I can get some time to deal some damage. Maybe I can even find its weak spot."

The Helmasnake King shifted its focus back to him, and Link decided to pull his ball and chain to get his head. Apparently the ball and chain would be a no go, because as soon as he launched the ball, the snake dodged. Link saw that the ceiling had some vines, so he grabbed his clawshots, and went up. The snake looked up, and was prepared to lunge at him. Before it reached the ceiling, Link let got and stabbed him in the back. The beast was wriggling in pain, and Link tried climbing to the top of his head. When he reached it, he saw something glowing in its face, but the mask was blocking it off. Link tried to use his sword hilt to break it, but it had no effect.

"Damn, it must be made of steel or somet-awah!"

Link was knocked of its head, and he fell to the floor. When he sat up, he saw the tail head straight for him, but he couldn't dodge it this time. He found himself being constricted by the tail and body of the snake.

"Uh-oh," Link thought, because he knew what the beast was trying to do: suffocate him by constriction.

Now snakes constricting its prey is normal, to make sure they don't escape, but it's scary to see he human in the same position as the prey. The more Link tried to move and breathe, the beast would get tighter. Link was starting to lose air, and all he could do was look up at the smiling snake that was going to be his demise. But before Link lost to much air, the snake suddenly snarled in the direction of the hole in the wall, and let Link go. He gasped for the precious air that was almost completely taken from him. He looked to see the monkey leader Ook was jumping from one pillar to another, which was angering the snake. It then occurred to Link.

"That thing has lost complete attention to me. It wants to get Ook now. This could help me out."

The baboon then jumped on its head, looking as if he was trying to get off the helmet. If that were the case, then there must be something important under that steel mask. Ook tried to stay on, but the beast was able to knock him off. Link decided to try the bomb arrows on its face to get its attention back. When the explosive arrow hit its face, it started squirming around, unable to see from the thick gas that came out of it. Link saw a crack on the mask, but only a small one, so he tried to shoot at it again, but it recovered and dodged it.

"Dammit, I need to make it stay still, but how?"

It was then he looked towards the wall and saw why Ook left. It was the eight monkeys that were scattered in the dungeoun, Roselaine included. They jumped up on the enemy and started grabbing onto the back of it. The snake was overwhelmed by all of the monkeys that dare do it harm, and even though it tried shaking them off, they hung on tight. Link noticed that the snake was near pillar, and an idea struck in his mind. He went over to the pillar, and though it was a little hard to push it, he was finally able to tip it. The Helmasnake King saw too late what was going to fall on him, and could only gasp as the pillar fell on him. He tried to wriggle free, but he had a bit of a hard time doing so. Link thought about dropping more on him to keep him down, so he did. It growled in frustration when the monkeys help keep him still.

"Ha ha," Link said triumphantly, "Can't do to much when your being pinned down can you."

It hissed back angrily in response.

"Now stay there while I break your steal mask off your head."

Link equipped his ball and chain again, and Link hit it three times before the already cracked mask broke. With the steel mask broken, Link saw what was hiding behind it, the weak spot in the form of a diamond shaped gem, with black twilight runes marking its face.

"So you ARE the beast that holds the mirror shard. Alright then, you'll feel a sharp scratch," Link told the beast before bringing a barrage of attacks on the beast's head.

After several hits, the jewel broke, and the monster started roaring and wriggling on the ground as it was dying. Finally, it stopped moving, and it exploded into the familiar black squares that litter the air in the realm of twilight. The squares then formed the first piece of the mirror, which floated right into his hands.

"So here it is," Link said as the he looked upon it, "the first mirror shard. Great, now only three pieces remain. Astrid, I am one step closer to bringing your demise, just you wait."

Link put the first shard away, and looked down upon the ground. He saw a small green snake immobile on the ground. After a minute, it started moving again, and scooted off. It looks like the little creature stumbled upon the mirror, and was transformed because of it. Not surprising really, he saw what the mirror did to Yeta...and he didn't want to be reminded of it. That face she made still haunts sometimes. He then turned his attention to the monkeys that were in the room.

"Thank you guys for your help once again," he said, bowing to them, "with your cooperation, I was able to get the first shard. I am one step closer to bringing a person that can help us all defeat the acid dragon. I must be off to get the second shard."

The monkeys jumped up and down, clapping their hands and cheering too. They then left through the opening, seeing that there is no reason to be there now. The last too monkeys, Ook and Roselaine, glanced back at Link one more time before they left. Link then left the room, crossed the monkey bridge, and made his way to the exit. When he finally reached the outside, he saw that it was nighttime, the moon shining as bright as a gem.

"Well, the next piece's location won't be revealed until tomorrow, so I think I can go rest at my house until then."

Link then made his way back home, but he was stopped by a nearby shop's bird, Trill.

"Heyo," said the afro headed bird. "Just got back from a battle?"

"Yeah, and I'm gonna go home now to recover."

"That sounds fine, but if your gonna do that, take a bath! I could smell you a few yards away."

"Well what did you expect? I got hurt, and I was surrounded by monkeys most of the time."

"Well yeah, but still."

"I'm going now."

Link knew that he needed to cleanse himself from the battle, but did that bird need to point it out that way? That's what you get when a bird knows how to talk.

* * *

And there goes another chapter. I thought since the monkey has a rose on her head to give her a name that fit that quality. Roselaine was one of the more unique names I found, pronounced ro-se-lay-n. I thought that making a boss fight in the same room as last time would be much too easy and simple. There was also a reference to another game within this chapter. The clue is, this fact pissed off a lot of players finding it out. The boss is basically a 4th version of the Helmasomething King. Now that the 1st dungeon is down, on the the next 3. I hope see you in the next chapter.


	9. Trouble within Kakariko

Hello everyone. Since high school ended two months back, I have been getting lots more sleep than I normally do, and I'm not as stressed out either. Because I have more time on my hands, I also have the opportunity to catch up on my drawing skills too, which is great because that is my best hobby. But now its August, and college is coming up pretty quick. Time passes by fast, huh. Anyway, here is the new chapter.

* * *

Link was already prepared to head out again when the morning sun came. He had a feeling that there would be no more mirror shards in the Ordona and Faron provinces, so he is going to head out to Eldin. He could make sure that the people and gorons of Kakariko are still alright as well. The mirror won't react until twilight comes anyway, so he might as well do something while he's doing nothing.

"Alright Epona," Link said as he approached his trusty mare, "you ready to head out again?"

Epona nodded her head in response.

"OK then, lets go."

They then left the forest, not planning to return until Link defeated Astrid. He could only pray that she wouldn't visit Ordon Village while he was gone, or he won't be able to lead her away. As he made his way out of the forest, he could see the new state the area was in. Trees were knocked over, dead grass littered the ground, and he could see some corpses of animals in different states of decay. Link could only stare upon the land that was once fertile. He made an angry gaze upon the distant castle, as he already knew who was responsible for this mess.

"Come on Epona," Link hissed, "we can't waste anymore time here. We need to get to Eldin."

Epona rushed off with him to said destination as fast as her legs could carry them. They saw that the entrance to Eldin was in a similar state as the Faron field, but less severe. When they do arrive, Kakariko looked the same as it was the last time. Link went up to the old building close to the spring and knocked on the door.

"Hey Renado, It's me Link! Are you guys still OK?"

The door opened to reveal not Renado, but his daughter Luda.

"Oh, Mister Link," she said approaching him, "You've come back OK. That makes me happy."

"I'm happy to see you're safe too. Where is your father?"

"Well, he's tending to some of the dragon's prisoners. She brought them here just yesterday."

Link was surely happy that these two have not yet been discovered by Astrid. However, it looks like she kept her promise on keeping innocent people as prisoners.

"Are they alright at least?"

"Well, they've been hurt quite bad, but they are alive. Father wants to release them, but the metal they are trapped with is quite strong. Not even the Gorons can break them. It's funny, I know think I've seen one of them before. Reddish hair, wears glasses, has odd clothes...oh, and he is a Hylian."

Link paused to think of a man that fits her description. Then it came to him. But if HE was a prisoner then...

"Luda, please take me to them."

The two walked up to the building that once housed an ill Prince Ralis. The building had quite the hole on the roof, but if Astrid did it, then it'd be no surprise. She had made a unique knock on the door, to which a few moments later was opened by the slightly cowardly bomb shop owner, Barnes.

"Heya Luda, oh, and Link too," said the shaking bomb handler, "haven't seen ya in a while."

"I'm here to see Renado and the prisoners."

"Alright, right up stairs," he said as he let the two in. "I'm telling ya, things have been worse since she came. She dumped her treasure AND those people here; this is a village, not some dumpster."

Link looked to the left corner and saw a big pile of gold and jewels. Looks like she also kept her word on storing treasure here as well. But stolen valuables were the least of his worries. He made a dash for the stairs and went up to the bedroom. Sure enough, Renado was there...as well as the members of the Resistance bound to the wall.

"Shad, Ashei, Auru you ARE here," Link yelled as he saw the three members.

They gazed upon him, surprise and defeat evident on their face. They wore shackles on their wrists, which were linked together with blackish chains. It also looks like they have been in a fight, because they had gauze placed on various parts of their bodies.

"Hello there, old chap," said Shad, whose glasses were now cracked.

"How did you guys end up like this?"

"Well," started Auru, "yesterday, we were helping out some of Hyrule Town's fugitives escape to the Hidden Village. While we were heading towards Kakariko, however, the dragon came and questioned why we were on her land during the day. She looked furious of course. We tried talking to her, but she had no intention of listening. She attacked us with her huge claws. I'm surprised that she didn't kill us."

"She didn't kill us, but she was easily able to best us," said Ashei, who looked away in defeat. "She bound us to the wall by chanting some spell, which created the shackles and chains. But they're not natural, and that's 'cause these chains are pretty much unbreakable. The fact that we can't beat that beast makes the Hyrule Resistance look like some joke!"

Link pondered on the chains, and thought that his sword may be the thing that can break them. He took his sword, and with as much strength as he could muster, he tried to break them.

-_CLANK-_

The chains started glowing black as soon as the sword came on contact with it, acting as a barrier for the linked metal. That was all he could think of too, because none of them had magical abilities.

"I'm afraid it's no use," said Renado, "these people are stuck here until we can lift the magic. All we can do is make sure they stay alive. Good thing she didn't leave them in a deserted area, or they would have never been found."

That is true. Rather than mope on what can't be done, look on the bright side. At least they weren't left in isolation, or being tortured, or left dead. Be thankful that they are alive. Anyway, if strength won't do the trick, then he may have to defeat the dragon to break whatever spell she put on the chains. Or get one of the princesses to help out, one or the other.

"Well don't worry you guys," Link said, "I know a way to beat the dragon, so just stay alive until then, OK?"

"You can count on me, Link" Renado said bowing to him.

"Please, don't get yourself killed," said the chain-bound scholar.

Link then proceeded down the stairs, and went out to make sure his horse was doing fine. Epona was just drinking from the Eldin Spring, nothing was wrong. He then thought he could do with a few fairies, so he went to the center of the spring to get them. Those glowing pink creatures have been here since he talked to the third Great Fairy in the Cave of Ordeals at the Gerudo Desert. Quite an ordeal it was too, it deserves the name it has. As he got the last fairy, he heard a loud voice.

"Huh?"

The voice was definitely not human, more like an animal cry. There aren't many fierce animals in the area though. The only creature that Link could think of making a noise that loud would have to be from the horrid, acidic, dragon lady herself.

"Dammit, not now," he said as a large shadow came into view in the sky. "I have to warn the others!"

Epona already ran off to hide, as Link went back to that building.

"Everyone hide," the door slammed open as loud as his voice as he yelled. "She's coming this way!"

Link scared the living daylights out of Barnes, but Renado and Luda came down soon after that. The four people went into the shrine building, where they can't easily be detected. Link was soon able to hear wings flapping, as he looked out the window slightly. Moments later, the creature landed near the Eldin Spring. Except it wasn't the dragon like he thought it was.

"Wow," he said in awe of the creature outside.

It was a bird as tall as a two and a half story building. When its wings were open, he saw that the seven rows of smaller feathers faded from yellow to orange, while the two rows of larger feathers went from yellow to red. The beak and large talons gave off the effect of lava with black rocks flowing on top. Its head was yellow, which faded to orange to the body and tail, and its legs were red. Its eyes were dark orange. It had three large, flowy, yellow orange feathers on its head, a black diamond cut gem above its beak. The same large feathers were also on the tail, but in a greater number. And it wore a large red neckband with oddly shaped obsidian rocks on it. But the one thing that caught Link's eye was the black twilight runes on the side of its head.

"A twilit beast in the form of a phoenix. I hate to say it, but this monster is quite lovely. I shall dub it: **The Twilit Avian, Flarenix**."

"But it is a monster nonetheless, Link," Renado whispered.

"Your right. I can't be distracted by its beauty. But it's not often you see beasts that aren't absolutely grotesque either."

The bird carefully made its way to the center of the spring, and quickly pecked at some fairies. The fortunate fairies, surprised at the sudden attack, made a beeline away from that fiery menace. The four people inside didn't expect that at all. Then all of a sudden, a familiar ball of light appeared in the spring, and the whole body of water started glowing bright. The Light Spirit Eldin then appeared, much to the bird's surprise as it hurried out of the water.

"You are a menace to this village, the mountain, and this spring," said the spirit of this province. "You WILL leave this place forever, or face your demise with my light!"

In response, the bird flew up, and let out a large column of fire from its mouth onto Eldin. He was able to deflect the flames, and let out a ball of light at Flarenix. It then created a ball of twilight magic, and let it go counter Eldin's light ball. After a bit of struggle, the twilight ball was able to overpower the light ball, and made a direct hit to Eldin. He flew back towards to back of the spring, and faded out. The spring then went back to its original state.

"That is some strong magic it let out. Only a powerful source could give it that much strength. Looks like that will be my next target."

Link contemplated on the pros and cons of going out right now to try and slay the monster, but before he could finish, the still-angered bird started breathing fire on the ground. The others watched as the fire started to engulf the buildings into flames. Link wasted no time in heading out the building, but by then the bird took off in the direction off the mountain.

"The bird is gone, but we need to get rid of the flames," Link said as the other 3 came out of the building.

"Oh cripes," said Barnes when he realized that they could be in danger. "If the flames get to my explosives, I know several buildings are gonna be wiped off! Gotta go!"

"Me and my daughter will help the best we can," Renado told Link, "you better take care of the building the Resistance are in."

Link looked to said building, and sure enough, it was being victimized by the flames that threaten the lives of the captives. He took out his Gale Boomerang, and stopped some of the flames outside before heading in. The inside had some fire going on, but not as severe as the outside, so the flames were easily dealt with. He then went upstairs to rid the captives of their pending doom.

"Are you three OK?"

"Yes, thank you Link," Auru said, sighing in relief.

"Good, I'm going back out to help the rest of the village."

As Link went back outside, he saw some Gorons with buckets of water, using them for putting out the flames, with Renado and Luda helping out. Other Gorons were using dirt to do the job. Barnes was struggling as fast as he could to get the bombs out of the building, and a Goron was assisting him too. Link got busy with using the Boomerang to prevent further damage. After some time, the fires were put out, the buildings suffering small to average damage. The Resistance was still alive, and only three bombs exploded, which didn't do too much damage to Barnes's Shop, though there is a big hole in his roof now.

"Phew," Gor Coron sighed when the work was done. "That took quite the effort, but with the help of our brothers, this village has been spared."

"We very much appreciate the help of the Gorons," said Renado. "Though there has been some damage, it would have been more severe if it weren't for your assistance."

"When I saw smoke rising from over the mountain, I knew something was wrong," Darbus said as he stomped over to them. "Even more so when a fire bird flew to our mountain. And I was right!"

"If the bird is in your area, shouldn't you guys be a bit worried," Link stated.

"Well, little human, it wouldn't to too much damage to the Gorons. I mean, look at us. We are as hard as rocks, and we can withstand heat, so we will be just fine, hahaha!"

"Yeah, but what would happen if it started taking your homes for its own, and didn't allow you guys near. What then, Darbus," Link stated.

"..."

"Patriarch?"

"I didn't think about that, actually."

The ground suddenly started to shake, as they saw smoke rising from the mountain. The only explanation for this would be that Death Mountain is erupting again, which hasn't really happened since Darbus had spent his time as Fyrus. Eventually, the earth stopped shaking as the mountain calmed down for the time being.

"That bird thinks it can take our home, it has another thing coming," Darbus yells, then he rolls off.

"Oh patriarch. We're sorry to leave so soon, but we have to see to that beast. Can't have it wrecking up the area."

"Understandable," Renado said. "Once again, we are grateful for your assistance."

As the gorons left, Link heard a familiar sound coming from his pocket. It was then he realized that the sky had turned orange as the sun was setting for the night. He took out the circle mirror piece, as it shined bright. It then created the scene in which the location of the next mirror shard would, basically the overview of the Death Mountain area, including the Goron Mines. There's no doubt that Flarenix has it, and Darbus pretty much said it was headed the mountain's direction anyway, so that settles it.

"What is that," said a curious Renado.

"The location of a mirror shard. You probably don't know, but it's important. I have to defeat that bird to get it, so I must be off as well."

"I see. Farewell for now, and please be careful."

"I will, thank you."

Link then departed to the Death Mountain entrance, waiting to see how much damage it has done to it since it arrived there. One thing's for sure, it is tempering with the volcano, and no one is having any of that. The gorons have already had plenty of that when Darbus was corrupted, and now that bird is causing trouble. He needed to get moving before Flarenix gets too out of control, and Link can't let its beauty distract him from the beast it is.

* * *

I am so sorry that this chapter came in late. I've just been so unmotivated to finish this chapter, either not knowing what to write, or by just being lazy. But I've done it! I probably could've wrote stuff for CH. 10 now that I think about it. Ah well. I had to draw out the whole boss just to get the description correct, and I hope it was a good enough description. Avian is the official term for the bird species. Obsidian is basically a volcanic glass, a black colored extrusive igneous rock for those that don't know. Flarenix is the combination of the words Flare, which means "to burn with a swaying, unsteady flame," and Phoenix, the legendary fire bird, because technically that's what this boss is based off of. There aren't that many bosses in the Zelda series that are physically pretty, if you know one, name it. Anyway, I'll try to post the next chapter as soon as possible. See you in the next chapter then, good night.


	10. the Second Shard: Death Mountain

Hello everyone. Sorry I have not updated in a while, but I have had zero inspiration to write. College has also kept me quite busy, and so I have hardly any time to write. Or if I do, it wasn't for this story, or I just don't feel like writing. But as I started fixing a few errors on the draft, I started writing a bit more stuff, and was able to get some inspiration(finally). Also my winter break is here, so I don't start college again till January, which is a good thing.

* * *

As Link started venturing up the mountain, he took notice of a few changes to his surroundings. One of them being that there were a few volcanic rocks found on the ground, still hot to the touch. There were also several fire balls in the area. As strange as that was, they didn't pose much of a threat, so he just carried on. He could also see the silhouette of Flarenix, the twilit beast Link presumes has the second missing shard, flying around the volcano. By the time he reached said volcano, the ground started shaking again as another eruption began.

"Oh crap," Link said as he started dodging all oncoming rocks, and there were a lot of them.

The Gorons didn't have to much of a problem though, considering that they are as hard as rock. Even so, they aren't quite fond of having to deal with volcanic eruptions again. Link took shelter as the rest of the eruption took its course. Once it was clear, he went back out into the open, until a large shadow under his feet caught his attention.

"Holy smokes," he yelled as he ran out of that spot as fast as he could.

The ground shook violently as the large lava rock pillar made contact with the ground. The Gorons were just as surprised as Link was when it came out.

"It seems that these eruptions are increasing with intensity," a random Goron nearby said. "If this goes on...well I don't know what would happen actually."

"Gotcha, I'm all ready on it."

"Well don't yourself get yourself burnt to a crisp. We Gorons can take the heat, but you wouldn't stand a chance."

Link took the same path up the mountain, with the Gorons helping him up along the way. By the time he reached the entrance of the mountain, he heard the bird cry out. He turned around to see the bird fly to ground, followed by a manly scream soon after, probably from a Goron. Link grabbed his bomb arrow, and launched it at the bird as it took flight once more. The arrow exploded as it hit the target at its beak. It cried out in pain as the captured Goron was released from its talons. He went inside to avoid being seen. As he entered, he saw some Gorons, along with the elders and Darbus, gathered in a huddle. He was curious as to what they were doing, so he approached.

"What are you guys talking about?"

The Gorons jumped in surprise, for they were too busy talking to have noticed the hero.

"Don't startle us like that little human," a Goron said.

Then Gor Coron said, "Well, we were devising a plan to get rid of that bird, but so far none of our plans seem to be good enough."

"The mines would be a bad idea, because there isn't enough ground to fight on in the areas where the sky is visible," stated Gor Liggs.

"If you have any ideas, we would appreciate the help, brother."

Link thought of that, and Liggs was right. Even in the areas where he could see the sky, there is either not enough ground to have a proper fight, or there are obstacles that would prevent the bird from coming down. And then the rest of the place would be inaccessible to the bird. If that were the case, the best place to fight it would be right outside, preferably around this area. In order to get the bird down to their level, however, they would need to lure it down. Pretty risky considering it may just breathe fire or shoot fireballs instead.

"I think I may have an idea, but it might be risky," Link said after finishing his thoughts.

"Great," yelled Darbus, "What must we do?"

"Well, before I came in here, I saw that bird pick up one of your men, but I was able to rescue him. It came down to the ground to eat him, so knowing that, I was thinking we try live bait."

"WHAT!? You want to sacrifice our men for that thing!? As the patriarch, i will not-"

"Hold on, Darbus, let me finish. We lure the beast down, then when it gets too close, I'll shoot it with a bomb arrow. That should distract it from doing anything, and we can attack him. We need to try keeping it grounded, so that we can find its weak spot. With the strength of the Goron tribe, it shouldn't be to hard."

"That's actually not a bad idea, little human," Gor Coron said, then directed his attention to Darbus. "What do you think, patriarch?"

"Well, if this plan will get rid of it, then I'm up for it. You have our support, Link."

"Good, then let's do it!"

The Gorons and Link had been preparing for about an hour with their new plan. Everything was set, a Goron to play as bait, others hiding and waiting for the opportunity to strike, and the necessary items that can take the bird down.

"Alright, everyone is ready little human," Darbus said not so quietly.

"Good, but you need to keep your voice down, OK," Link told him. "OK Rockwell, do your people proud."

"Right, for the Goron race!"

Link facepalmed. As good and strong as these guys are, most of them don't fare well in keeping their voices down. Rockwell marched out into the opening, ready to bring Flarenix, who was currently perched on the mountain, down to ground level. He broke off a chunk of lava rock that had come from one of the eruptions, and with all of his strength threw it as close to the bird as he could. He missed by a few feet, but it was enough to get the bird's attention.

"Hey, you up there," Rockwell yelled, "yeah you! Come at me birdbrain!"

Flarenix watched, but didn't really seem to care. It just flew down to the entrance of the mountain and faced away from him.

"I know that your are a powerful fire bird, but we Gorons are much stronger. Your fire powers to us are about as weak as the lava within this mountain, and that stuff kills!" He then grabbed another chunk of rock. "So if you're so great, why don't you prove it. Come at me!"

He threw the rock again, this time hitting the bird at the side of the head. After that blow, Flarenix looked down at Rockwell and screeched. It was agitated before from him yelling at it, but now it was furious. It took off and flew down to where Rockwell was at.

"NOW!"

Link launched a bomb arrow at the bird, and hit it squarely at the beak, distracting it. The Gorons then rolled out to wreck their fiery adversary. Once they reached it, they let loose and started pummeling it. Gorons above ground level threw chunks of rocks at it. The bird started spewing fire from its mouth in an attempt to ward them off, but with little success. Link was standing back, trying to refrain from being crushed by the group of Gorons. Things were going well, but then Flarenix pulled off something Link had forgotten. It started charging up an energy ball of twilit magic, and Link knew that this hit would actually do damage. Some of the Gorons stopped, confused at this new attack.

"Back off," Link yelled at them.

Some rolled away others curled into a defensive ball. Flarenix then let the ball fly towards those rolling away, and even though they were curled up, it still caused them damage. The Gorons were thrown against a wall from the force of the attack. Now that it wasn't being held down, it started to fight back by flying into the air, and blowing out both fire and twilit balls. The Gorons were still eager to fight, and so they kept on going, trying to avoid being blasted by dark magic. Link had to help out somehow. Perhaps if he can get on it...

"Hey Darbus, come here," Link yelled.

Darbus heard and started rolling towards him.

"What is it, little human?"

"I have an idea. I am gonna try to get onto the bird and attack it, but I need your help to get it down and distract it. Can you do this?"

"Of course, but I think I have a better plan."

"And what would that b-wa!"

Darbus had picked Link up and went into the opening, putting Link into a javelin position.

"What are you doing," Link yelled in shock.

"I know what I'm doing, just stay straight, OK?"

Link then realized what he was planning. Rather than bringing the bird down to Link, Darbus would throw him to the bird. It wouldn't be to difficult, Link's weight to Darbus was equal to that of the chunks of rocks the Gorons had been throwing.

"Alright," Darbus yelled while running, "I'll throw you in 3..2..1!" And then he released Link and let him fly.

"AWWwaaaAAAHH," Link screamed as he flew.

He flew right past the bird, but since it was distracted by the Gorons, it paid no attention to Link. When he started to fall, Link turned around to face the earth. Because he didn't have anything that would lighten the fall, he landed on the birds back with a thud. Flarenix was shocked at the sudden attack, and started flailing in the air to try to get whatever landed on it off. Link clung onto its obsidian neckband to try and stay on. The Gorons, seeing Link struggle to stay on, tried to distract it by throwing rocks at it again. It worked, as its attention was once again focused on them. He breathed a sigh of relief as he was able to sit on the birds back.

"*phew* Haven't had this much struggle to stay on something since the time I had to tame Epona again."

He thought about the weak spot of Flarenix. If the fierce pummeling from the Gorons didn't do so much damage to it, then the weak spot was hidden. If that were the case, then it would either be in two areas: the obsidian gem on its head, or underneath the neckband. Since the bird would notice right away if he tries the head, he tried to get the neckband off. It was a bit difficult even when using the Master Sword, but after about six tries, he was able to get it off. It fell to the Earth, and the bird seemed to have noticed it, because the next thing he knew, was that Flarenix started to fly higher in the sky. He grasped on to its feathers for dear life, and when he looked down, he was shocked to see that entirety of the Eldin Province below him. The bird started twisting and turning to get Link off, and after a minute it succeeded. Link was launched a bit higher into the sky, and Flarenix flew down several feet below him. Facing him, it started charging up a twilit ball. He had to think quickly, because the weak spot was not under that fancy neckband, and it has a direct view of him.

"If I can hit that twilit ball and get a direct hit to its head, then that crystal would probably shatter. That magic looks quite strong."

After it was big enough, Flarenix let it loose, and Link was able to hit back with his sword, albeit with slight difficulty. But Flarenix was smart, and hit it back.

"So, it wants to play Dead Man's Volley, huh? Alright then," he said hitting the ball back.

It hit the ball back, Link returned it, and they continued this for about seven times until the bird was tired of hitting it. As a result, it was too slow to hit to ball back to Link, and it took a ball to the head. It screeched in pain as it was impacted. When it finally recovered, Link saw that his effort paid of, as a he saw an oval-shaped gem in the place of its large obsidian one. It looked like an opal with a warm coloration, like that of fire, he couldn't help but to admire its beauty. Nonetheless, he took this chance to launch an arrow at it. It was a direct hit. It screeched again as it started blowing fire at Link, to which he blocked it with his shield. Seething with anger, it started to charge towards him at a fast pace. He though that maybe stabbing it right in the head may do it, and he prepared himself to strike. It was about 10 seconds until Flarenix reached Link, and he swung his sword down with all of his might.

***shatter***

The Master Sword went deep through the gem, and shattered it to pieces. The bird stopped dead in its tracks, and didn't move for a few moments. Link took the sword out of its head, and the bird started writhing in pain, falling to the earth will blowing fire. Link blocked it when it came into his direction, and he watched as it suffered. It stopped moving altogether, and burst into flames. Then Link realized that he was still in mid-air, and that he die if he landed, from the great height.

"Oh crap! Think, Link. What can you use?"

And then a thought hit him. Didn't the Fairy of Winds live within the Gale Boomerang? He had to give it a shot, so he grabbed out said item.

"Um, Fairy of Winds. Are you in there?"

At first there was no response, but then the boomerang activated itself, and started whirling besides him.

"Hello, brave Link," a light, feminine voice said. "What is it that you need?"

"I need your help in getting back to the ground, the boomerang seems to be the only thing good enough to carry me."

"I think I can manage that. Just get give me a second."

The boomerang then flew to Link's feet, attaching itself to the soles of his boots. Link was glad that he could get to the ground safely, what he didn't expect was the fact he would be spinning all the way down

"Sorry about making you dizzy Link, but it's a small sacrifice to get you to the ground safely," the Fairy told him.

"Its OK, I understand," he said feeling slightly nauseous.

About five minutes later, Link had finally reached the ground level. He was incredibly dizzy from the spinning, and he felt like he was going to vomit. Darbus, who was watching the battle in the air with the rest of the Gorons, approached the dizzy hero.

"Little human, are you OK," Darbus said as he gave the hero a steady hand.

"I don't really feel good."

"After seeing you spin so much I wouldn't be surprised! Perhaps you should sit down."

Darbus then led him to one of the steps that led to the path out of the mountain. Link, regaining his sense and calming his body, suddenly remembered the fate of the fiery bird.

"W-What happened to Flarenix? It burst into flames, and then I lost track of it."

"Oh, that. It landed in the Goron Sumo Ring. A brother told me that there is only ashes where it remained, as well as what appeared to be a piece of a mirror. No one has gone near that mirror though. Something about it being 'dark magic.'"

"Oh good, I need that mirror shard. Lets head up there."

"Alright, I'll throw you if you want!"

"NO!...I mean, it's fine, we can just climb up."

Link really didn't want to be thrown up by Darbus. He already had enough of that action when it came to getting to both the Gerudo Desert and the City in the Sky. And so they chose to just climbed up the mountain normally. When they reached the entrance, Link could see a shard of the Mirror of Twilight floating, and a big heap of ashes around the sumo arena. The Gorons stood by, not wanting to touch since they thought they would turn into a dark beast, like when Darbus became the Twilit Igniter, Fyrus. When they saw Link, they started cheering.

"Oh, Link," Gor Coron said approaching the two. "We thank you for defeating that bird. And what a sight it was too."

"Thanks, and I thank all of you for helping me fight him."

"You are most welcome. You have helped us in the past, so it is only fair that we return the favor, brother. There is also this dark relic that came out of the bird, but we dared not touch it. Is this what you are looking for?"

"Yes it is."

Link approached the Mirror Shard, and it came to his hands. He then put it into his pocket for safekeeping. He turned around to say his good-byes, but then he noticed something odd. The Gorons have their attention fixed on his feet. Confused, Link follows suit and looks to the ground, and was surprised at what he saw. In the middle of the ashes, something small was rising. It started shaking the ashes off of it and everyone saw what the small thing was. It was a small yellow-orange bird.

"WHOA," Link exclaimed, not expecting that at all.

The Gorons seemed equally shocked. That little bird was certainly not there before, at least that's what the others reported. It looked up at Link with its golden eyes and peeped. Link picked it up out of curiosity, and it seemed quite warm, like a flame from a candle. Then it sneezed, a small flame coming from its mouth when it did. It was then Link realized what it was.

"Guys, this is a baby phoenix."

"A Phoenix," they all said in unison.

Phoenixs were very hard to find in Hyrule, but then again it was a legendary bird. Where this bird came from in this land, no one knew.

Darbus approached the hero to get a better look. The bird noticed, and turned around to see the tall figure that came to it. He just looked down at the bird, a serious expression on his face.

"*chirp, chirp*"

"Hmm. Well, as the patriarch of the Goron tribe, I hereby decree that this bird will live among us.

Everyone was shocked that such a big, strong, and proud Goron such as Darbus could actually fall for a small, adorable bird of legend. The Elders talked amongst themselves, thinking through the idea of keeping it. When they came to a conclusion, Gor Coron spoke up.

"Well, you will have to take care of it, but we think having it will be an excellent addition. It can be the Gorons' wings."

"Excellent! Hey kid, since you defeated the fiery menace, you should name it!"

"Really," he asked, surprised at the sudden request. "Hmm, I think you should call it Ignitus."

"Great name! You hear that Ignitus, you are gonna live with us now."

The bird chirped happily, and flew to Darbus' shoulder. Link smiled when he saw the former enemy get along with the strong leader. He yawned, not knowing how tired he was after all of that excitement.

"Well, I think I'm going to head back down to the village to rest. I have what I need, so I will depart tomorrow. I'm happy that I was able to help you guys."

"Hahaha, thanks little human. Well good night," he said patting Link on the back, unknowingly knocking him down in the process.

"Gah, yeah."

Tired, Link headed down to the village, using his lantern to help light the way since it was dark outside. It was still warm though, considering he was in a warm environment. But after going through fire and flames, he has grown tired of the heat. Thankfully, he will be going to a cooler environment tomorrow, for he needs to see how the Zoras have been doing.

* * *

Finally, done with this chapter. This took so much time and thought to put this chapter together, but in the end, it came out pretty good. The opal that is Flarenix's weak spot is a Fire Opal, which I thought was quite pretty. The name Ignitus came from the Elder Fire Dragon from the Spyro series, and I thought of it was a cool name to use. The next chapter is already in progress, and should be out soon. I hope you liked this chapter, and I'll see you in the next one.


	11. Troubled Thoughts

Hello everyone. Well, this my first chapter of the new year. It took a bit longer than I wanted, but with college going on, I have been busy. I only have an English class at the moment though, so thats not to bad. Plus I'll learn a few things for my stories. I also have a picture of Astrid uploaded on deviantart. If you guys are interested, the link is in my profile.

* * *

As Link defeated the fiery foe, nighttime had set on the land of Hyrule. The stars and moon were covered in clouds, and so there was no light in the sky, just darkness. Princess Zelda had been finishing up the last of her duties given to her by Astrid. It was harder to do with a broken arm, but nonetheless she carried on.

"Now that this area is cleaned up, I can finally get some rest," Zelda said as she cleaned up the mess Astrid made during dinner that day. "It would have been quicker had my arm not been broken, but at least this will leave her satisfied."

She started making her way towards her bedroom, which was difficult considering her muscles ached from all the work she had done for the past several days. She wonders how she hasn't already collapsed by now, and thinks of if her servants feel like this some days.

"If I ever get my kingdom back, I should lighten the burden my servants carry."

She finally approached the pillar in which her bedroom is in, but she stops to see Astrid looking towards the distance. She had seen the large dragon look that way since the end of dinner. She was always a bit noisy, whether it was eating or talking, but seeing her so still and quiet was a first. And then she moved again, lowering her head to her hands, and when the dragon looked back up, Zelda was surprised at what she saw. Astrid's horns had been fractured, unlike the horns of her helmet which led Zelda to believe she still had them. Looking at them, she figures they had been broken for a long time. There was also a big scar present from next to the right horn to under the left one.

"No wonder you wear that helmet," Zelda said.

And then Astrid spoke, looking skyward.

"I have everything," she spoke with a monotone voice. "Land, power, riches, everyone cowering before me. And you guys said I couldn't do it...WELL LOOK AT WHERE I AM NOW!"

Zelda was startled at the sudden outburst.

"I AM THE MOST POWERFUL DRAGON THAT HAS EVER WALKED THIS PLANET! AND YOU GUYS CALLED ME A WEAK LITTLE FOOL! WELL WHO IS THE FOOL NOW!?"

After her last outburst, there was a moment of silence. Zelda had never seen her so angry before, even when she first met the dragon.

"...Who is the fool now," she finished, her voice cracking slightly. She put her helmet back on and took one more glance at the sky before laying her head down for the night.

After that, Zelda had started thinking to herself.

"_The way she says it though, she isn't bragging about it like she normally would. She sounds serious and angry. And who are these 'guys' she mentioned? Well, it would be useless talking to her about it right now, it is quite late in the evening."_

She then retired to her bedroom, praying for the Goddess Nayru to give her strength for the next day, and went to bed.

-**_Around 9:30 in the morning-_**

Zelda awoke to a loud knocking on her door, though she was not surprised, as this was Astrid's way of waking her up in the morning. Well, at least she tried to be polite about it.

"Zelda~," Astrid said in a sing-song voice. "It is time to make me breakfast. I desire something sweet."

"***yawn*** Alright Mistress Astrid, I'm awake. '_At least she seems to be in a better mood now.'"_

After getting dressed, she headed down to the kitchen, which, after all of this, was still in one piece. She decided to make a simple, but large, fruit salad. She had made sure to eat some food for herself as well, since she would usually have to go straight to work after giving Astrid her meal. After finishing the salad, she set it on a cart and walked outside. Astrid was just fiddling with some of the trees in the garden while she was waiting for her to finish. When Zelda arrived, the dragon looked down and smiled at her.

"Took you long enough, I was getting bored." She looked at her food. "What's this?"

"A large fruit salad. I know you normally eat extravagant things, but this time I made something simple. And fruit is good for you, well anyone really. I did add more strawberries to make it sweeter."

"Well this is a first," she said, genuinely amused. "I thought you hated me, and here you are looking out for my well-being with healthy things. Have you finally gone mad?"

"No, and don't get me wrong, I still think of you as an enemy to all of Hyrule."

"***chuckle*** I was only kidding around you know."

She then took the bowl and dumped the contents into her mouth, then set the bowl back down. She swallowed her food, a look of satisfaction on her face.

"Not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Now, I order you to check on my snout, because I can't tell if it's still broken from that ball and chain," she lowered her head so that Zelda could get on.

"Does it still hurt?"

"Not like it used to, but it still hurts every once in a while. I've definitely had worse injuries than this, but it is still a nuisance."

Zelda felt around the snout area, which was still bruised, but it looked much better than before. Astrid winced in slight pain as the injury was being poked at, though she toughed it out.

"So, I heard you yelling at something last night."

Astrid froze at that. She knew her servant would have heard it, but bringing it up was what she didn't expect.

"W-Well, how could you not hear me. Pfft, moron."

"You didn't seem like yourself. You sounded so genuinely angry at someone. Do you...want to talk about it?"

"It's none of your business. Who I was angry at does not concern you, miss nosy servant."

"I see. Well, your injury is healing up nicely. Just don't mess around with it and you'll be fine."

Astrid lowered her snout so that Zelda could get off, and then looked away from her. It seemed like the dragon slipped it the state she was in yesterday, quiet and unmoving.

"What? Aren't you going to give me an order?"

"...If you really must know, I was mad at a few of my enemies."

"Oh? And who would they be?"

"They were dragons from my hometown. I had a unique ability, which was acid, and those fools thought I was inferior. And my enemies had fire powers, if you can believe that. A common fire dragon shouldn't be so jealous of someone with a more interesting talent. Anyway, they thought I was a weak fool who had no chance in being successful in taking over new lands, as many other dragons have done in the past. One day I decided enough was enough, and I left my home to conquer new territory, to prove that I was capable of being a powerful dragon. And now I am."

It seemed Astrid had been teased because of her power by some peers of hers. Zelda really couldn't blame her for hating them, as messing with someone who is a little different was considered wrong, at least that was what she was taught by her elders. That being said, Astrid is still an evil dragon that has terrorized many lands. And yet, she can't help but feel that the large dragon may be keeping some information under lock and key.

"I see. You are an enemy, but I can see that you are capable of doing what you set your mind to. I'm not sure that your telling the whole truth, but I'm guessing that it's none of my business."

"Hm. Well I uh... I don't think that there is anything that can be done at the moment, so you are free to do what you please."

"Really," Zelda said in shock, as she never seemed to get a break.

"Yeah, just don't leave this castle, and just stay out of my scales until I call for you, alright?"

"I understand, thank you."

She ran off to return the cart to the kitchen, and think about what she would do. Perhaps she could catch up on her reading, or try to organize her office. After some thought, she decided to take a much needed bath to relax her tired body.

**-Around 11:00 in the morning-**

As Zelda lay in her bathtub, she had started thinking back to what Astrid said earlier. She had claimed that she had been teased by some enemies of hers in the past, so much so that she left altogether. But there was something that had been bugging her since last night. Though she didn't see the large dragon's face, she did see that there was a scar and completely fractured horns. Of course, this could have happened when the poor souls of various kingdoms tried to fight her, which was her first thought when she had seen them. It's still unclear as of now, but she can't help but ponder.

"What if those injuries weren't obtained from during her conquests?"

In any case, Astrid won't tell her anything else about it, and it would be no use to keep asking for more details. Her mind then wonders back to Link. How had his quest for finding the mirror shards been faring?

"Link, I hope that you are OK."

Meanwhile, Astrid had been thinking and muttering quietly to herself.

"That girl sure is something. No one ever wants to talk with a big bad dragon like myself. They all just cower in fear, but she stands her ground. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to handle this. ***sigh*** Maybe tonight I'll hang around the lake area. I thought the lake was beautiful during the night."

She didn't know what to do until then, so she just decided to take a nap. Maybe by that time she won't be so melancholic.

* * *

...I really don't know what to put in this AN. I have the next two chapters planned out, and hopefully I can get them out soon. Hopefully I'll see you guys in the next chapter. Have a good day.


End file.
